


Astray in the Water

by Ilikecorvids



Series: Forgotten Ghosts [1]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: ADHD, Anxiety, Gen, LGBTQ Character, Original Clans (Warriors)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-25
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2019-09-27 01:08:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 26
Words: 34,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17152451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ilikecorvids/pseuds/Ilikecorvids
Summary: A story about four original Clans: NightClan, PoppyClan, IceClan, and IvyClanAmberpaw is an outgoing warrior apprentice trying to figure out who they are, Ramsonpaw is a medicine cat apprentice struggling with anxiety and expectations set by his Clanmates, and Pondtail is an outcasted warrior witnessing things go awry in their own Clan. They each have their own pasts and difficulties, but will try their best to protect their Clans from rogues, other animals, each other, and the very cats they call Clanmates.





	1. Allegiances

**NightClan:**

**Leader:**

Herbstar - Grey molly with white paws

**Deputy:**

Chervillight - Black molly with a white underside and legs

**Medicine cats:**

Snaketooth - Black mackerel tabby tom  _(Apprentice: Ramsonpaw)_

Ramsonpaw - Black tom with a white throat

**Warriors:**

Boulderclaw - Large grey classic tabby tom _(Apprentice: Fangpaw)_

Tornears - Red ticked tabby molly _(Apprentice: Amberpaw)_

Sparrowfoot - Chocolate spotted tabby tom _(Apprentice: Flintpaw)_

Ruffledpelt - Fluffy black molly  _(Apprentice: Logpaw)_

Palestripe - Cream ticked tabby molly _(Apprentice: Hollypaw)_

Thornfang - Black classic tabby molly

Monarchwing - Red mackerel tabby molly

**Apprentices:**

Fangpaw - Silver mackerel torbie

Logpaw - Lilac tortoiseshell

Amberpaw - Black with a red undercoat

Flintpaw - Black tuxedo tom

Hollypaw - Fluffy black molly

**Queens:**

Addertail - Black mackerel tabby molly

**Elders:**

Greypelt - Wiry grey tom

**Family Trees:**

**Herbstar:** Mate: Chervillight, Son: Flintpaw

 **Chervillight:** Mate: Herbstar, Son: Flintpaw

 **Snaketooth:** N/A

 **Ramsonpaw:** Littermate: Amberpaw

 **Boulderclaw:** Daughter: Thornfang, Neice: Palestripe

 **Tornears:** N/A

 **Sparrowfoot:** Children: Logpaw, Fangpaw (Adoptive)

 **Ruffledpelt:** Daughter: Hollypaw

 **Palestripe:** Cousin: Thornfang, Uncle: Boulderclaw

 **Thornfang:** Father: Boulderclaw, Cousin: Palestripe

 **Fangpaw:** Father: Sparrowfoot (Adoptive), Sibling: Logpaw (Adoptive)

 **Logpaw:** Father: Sparrowfoot, Sibling: Fangpaw (Adoptive)

 **Amberpaw:** Brother: Ramsonpaw

 **Flintpaw:** Mothers: Herbstar, Chervillight

 **Hollypaw:** Mother: Ruffledpelt

 **Addertail:** N/A

 **Greypelt:** N/A

* * *

 

**PoppyClan:**

**Leader:**

Cloudstar - Pale grey and white tom

**Deputy:**

Goosewhisker - Grey spotted tabby tom with a torn jaw  _(Apprentice: Mosspaw)_

**Medicine cats:**

Crowfrost - Black smoke mackerel tabby

Comfreypond - Black molly with a hardly noticable ginger patch on her forepaw

**Warriors:**

Fogflight - Black-silver ticked tabby tom _(Apprentice: Cootpaw)_

Blackheart - Black molly  _(Apprentice: Shadepaw)_

Ginderheart - Lilac tuxedo molly  _(Apprentice: Shortpaw)_

Foxstorm - Ruddy molly

Pondtail - White and cream cat

Bristletail - Ruddy tom

Risingwind - Cream ticked tabby molly with a white chest

**Apprentices:**

Cootpaw - Black molly

Mosspaw - Black spotted tabby tom

Shortpaw - Chocolate tortoiseshell molly

Shadepaw - Grey tom

**Queens:**

Teaselfeather - Lilac classic tabby molly (Kits: Leafkit, Dawnkit, and Fennelkit)

**Kits:**

Leafkit - Lilac classic tabby tom

Dawnkit - Lilac ticked tabby molly

Fennelkit - Fawn spotted tabby tom

**Family Trees:**

**Cloudstar:** N/A

 **Goosewhisker:** N/A

 **Crowfrost:** N/A

 **Comfreypond:** Sister: Risingwind, Son: Shadepaw

 **Fogflight:** Mate: Blackheart

 **Blackheart:** Mate: Fogflight

 **Gingerheart:** Neice: Shortpaw

 **Foxstorm:** N/A

 **Pondtail:** N/A

 **Bristletail:** N/A

 **Risingwind:** Sister: Comfreypond, Nephew: Shadepaw

 **Cootpaw:** Brother: Mosspaw

 **Mosspaw:** Sister: Cootpaw

 **Shortpaw:** Aunt: Gingerheart

 **Shadepaw:** Mother: Comfreypond, Aunt: Risingwind

 **Teaselfeather:** Daughter: Dawnkit, Sons: Leafpool, Fennelkit

 **Leafkit:** Mother: Teaselfeather, Sister: Dawnkit, Brother: Fennelkit

 **Dawnkit:** Mother: Teaselfeather, Brothers: Leafkit, Fennelkit

 **Fennelkit:** Mother: Teaselfeather, Sister: Dawnkit, Brother: Leafkit

* * *

 

**IceClan:**

**Leader:**

Rosestar - Large fluffy white molly

**Deputy:**

Bearpelt - Large black tom

**Medicine cat:**

Wideeyes - Chocolate classic tabby with a white chest and legs

**Warriors:**

Hawthornstorm - Red mackerel tabby tom

Dogfang - Grey-brown mackerel tabby tom

Mothpelt - Golden-brown mackerel tabby molly  _(Apprentice: Creekpaw)_

Spidertail - Black molly  _(Apprentice: Ashenpaw)_

Emberclaw - Tortoiseshell molly

Webpelt - White tom with grey patches  _(Apprentice: Cloverpaw)_

Jayleap - Grey classic tabby tom

**Apprentices:**

Cloverpaw - Cream-silver mackerel tabby molly

Creekpaw - Black smoke tom

Ashenpaw - Pale grey molly

**Queens:**

Finchheart - Grey mackerel tabby molly  _(Kit: Falconkit)_

Hawkstripe - Black classic tabby tom with a white underside and neck  _(Kits: Juniperkit and Copperkit)_

**Kits:**

Falconkit - Small mackerel torbie molly

Juniperkit - White molly with black tabby patches

Copperkit - Golden-brown mackerel tabby tom

**Elders:**

Tatterednose - Large black molly

Toadstripe - Black classic tabby tom

**Family Trees:**

**Rosestar:** N/A

 **Bearpelt:** Mother: Tatterednose

 **Wideeyes:** N/A

 **Hawthornstorm:** Mate: Finchheart, Daughter: Falconkit

 **Dogfang:** Sister: Finchheart

 **Mothpelt:** Mate: Hawkstripe, Son: Copperkit, Daughter: Juniperkit

 **Spidertail:** N/A

 **Emberclaw:** N/A

 **Webpelt:** N/A

 **Jayleap:** N/A

 **Cloverpaw:**  N/A

 **Creekpaw:** Sister: Ashenpaw

 **Ashenpaw:** Brother: Creekpaw

 **Finchheart:** Brother: Dogfang, Mate: Hawthornstrom, Daughter: Falconkit

 **Falconkit:** Mother: Finchheart, Father: Hawthornstorm

 **Hawkstripe:** Mate: Mothpelt, Son: Copperkit, Daughter: Juniperkit

 **Juniperkit:** Mother: Mothpelt, Father: Hawkstripe

 **Copperkit:** Mother: Mothpelt, Father: Hawkstripe

 **Tatterednose:** Son: Bearpelt

 **Toadstripe:** N/A

* * *

 

**IvyClan:**

**Leader:**

Tanglestar - Ruddy molly

**Deputy:**

Rainfur - Fluffy black molly

**Medicine cats:**

Fireflypelt - Round tortoiseshell molly

Littlepaw - Fawn ticked tabby tom

**Warriors:**

Pinebranch - Red classic tabby tom with white paws and a bad leg

Locustclaw - Fawn ticked tabby molly  _(Apprentice: Harrierpaw)_

Cloudyeyes - Dark grey smoke tom _(Apprentice: Redpaw)_

Minkfur - Black tom with a red undercoat

Sapheart - Red spotted tabby molly  _(Apprentice: Roachpaw)_

**Apprentices:**

Redpaw - Red classic tabby molly with white paws

Harrierpaw - Black classic tabby tom with a white throat

Roachpaw - Black molly

**Queens:**

Tarantulafoot - Black molly with a red undercoat  _(Kits: Croakkit and Mirekit)_

**Kits:**

Croakkit - Black mackerel tabby tom

Mirekit - Black mackerel tabby molly

**Elders:**

Kinkedtail - Fluffy black molly with a broken tail

Mudsplash - Chocolate tom

Pricklethorn - Ruddy molly

**Family Trees:**

**Tanglestar:** Mother: Pricklestorn

 **Rainfur:** N/A

 **Fireflypelt:** Mate: Pinebranch, Daughter: Redpaw, Son: Harrierpaw

 **Littlepaw:** Mother: Locustclaw, Father: Cloudyeyes

 **Pinebranch:** Mate: Fireflypelt, Daughter: Redpaw, Son: Harrierpaw

 **Locustclaw:** Mate: Cloudyeyes, Son: Littlepaw

 **Cloudyeyes:** Mate: Locustclaw, Son: Littlepaw

 **Minkfur:** Sister: Tarantulafoot, Neice: Mirekit, Nephew: Croakkit

 **Sapheart:** N/A

 **Redpaw:** Mother: Fireflypelt, Father: Pinebranch, Brother: Harrierpaw

 **Harrierpaw:** Mother: Fireflypelt, Father: Pinebranch, Sister: Redpaw

 **Roachpaw:** N/A

 **Tarantulafoot:** Brother: Minkfur, Daughter: Mirekit, Son: Croakkit

 **Croakkit:** Mother: Tarantulafoot, Sister: Mirekit, Uncle: Minkfur

 **Mirekit:** Mother: Tarantulafoot, Brother: Croakkit, Uncle: Minkfur

 **Kinkedtail:** N/A

 **Mudsplash:** N/A

 **Pricklethorn:** Daughter: Tanglestar

* * *

** Speakers: **

Speckle - Red classic tabby molly with a white chest

Snowstorm - White molly

Algae - Black mackerel tabby tom

Black tom - Nameless black tom

Calico molly - Grey and cream calico molly

**Rogues, Loners, and Kittypets**

Maggie - Black and white molly

Sky - Young grey spotted tabby molly

Mattie - Young lynx point tom

**StarClan:**

Asterclaw - Red mackerel tabby molly

Torrenttail - White tom

Salamanderstar - Ruddy molly

Fritillarystar - Brown and ginger torbie molly

* * *

 


	2. Map




	3. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Talk of sickness and death

The ragged red molly let out a pained moan as the medicine cat licked her scruff. He blinked in a silent apology despite her not being conscious, and moved away from her burning pelt. The molly’s infection was growing worse and the medicine cat doubted he could do anything at this point.

A pebble fell by his paws as another cat leaped down from the ledge above the den, landed neatly on the stone flooring, and padded up to the tabby seer.

“How is she?” Herbstar asked as she sat beside the tom and curled her tail over her paws.

“Her infection’s getting worse by the day, and her fever refuses to break. I’m afraid it’s in StarClan’s paws now.” He looked out across the camp, where the day was growing dark, casting long shadows over the stones. A few stars began decorating the dusk sky. Beyond the walls of the camp he knew the forest had already been covered in shadows. The thought of monsters lurking within the darkness made his pelt stand on end, but he focused his gaze to the night sky. “Although… I already know StarClan’s answer.”

Herbstar gently flicked her tail, staring at Asterclaw’s still body. Every once in a while her side would rise and lower. That was the only sign she still clung to this life. The image of the red tabby, curled up so tightly in the nest made Herbstar’s heart ache in sympathy.

A commotion brought their attention to the entrance of the camp. A patrol had just arrived. As the group set their catch in the prey pile a young red tabby broke away from them and ran over to the medicine cat den. The two older cats didn’t move as Monarchpaw padded up to them, waving her tail behind her.

“Is she getting any better yet?” The apprentice asked, looking towards the Clan leader with optimism. Herbstar only gently shook her head and Monarchpaw’s tail dropped.

“I’m afraid she’s not going to live through this, Monarchpaw,” the grey molly said with an unusually gentle voice.

“Is there really nothing you can do, Snaketooth?” She looked towards the medicine cat this time, but much like the leader, he only shook his head. She eyed the ground in thought before looking back at the two. “What about the two-legs?”

“What about them?”

“Well, I uh, I met a kittypet at the edge of our territory once, and he mentioned how his two-legs helped him get better when he got sick.” She ducked her head slightly, unsure if the news of her befriending a kittypet would upset her leader.

Herbstar looked towards Snaketooth and flicked her tail again. “No.”

“But–”

“I don’t think you realize what you’re asking,” Snaketooth cut in. “She wouldn’t make the journey, and even if she did, there’s a greater chance two-legs wouldn’t let her come back after they heal her.” He settled down, tucking his paws under his chest. “Then what would happen when she’d eventually die in two-leg place? She wouldn’t be able to reach StarClan. She could become a monster.”

Monarchpaw flattened her ears as she stared at her paws, and let out a small breath. “I understand.”

Herbstar stood and pressed her nose to the apprentice’s forehead. The action looked a bit awkward to Snaketooth considering Monarchpaw was now taller than their leader, but didn’t commented on this.

“I’m sorry, Monarchpaw. We did the best we could. Asterclaw may not wake up tonight, but you should stay with her.” The apprentice pressed her nose to the leader’s chest before pulling away. Herbstar gave them both a slow blink before she padded away towards her den.

Snaketooth stood and stretched. “Just be careful not to touch her leg. Her infection may not be caused by sickness, but we can’t chance loosing you as well.”

“Yes sir.” Monarchpaw was already curling up around the sick warrior. She rested her chin on her mother’s hip and closed her eyes. Snaketooth’s heart ached for the molly, but couldn’t do anything more for them. He padded towards the prey pile, keeping his eyes on the pile and not on the quickly growing shadows around camp. They set him off unlike any other night. Unease buried deep in his gut, and he resisted the urge to look around in panic.

This had to be a bad omen.

Something hit his side. Bristling, he whirled around to see one of the kits. The black and white tom who hardly reached his shoulders apologized profusely and quickly dashed away with a hunched head and puffed up tail. He watched the 5-moon-old cat run to his littermate, a black tom with brilliant amber eyes.

The kit who hit him sat down and licked his shoulder fur to lie flat, but kept eyeing the corner of camp he had came from. Snaketooth looked towards the corner and saw nothing but a large tree shadow extending along the stone floor. The outline of branches spread and swept over the corner of the ravine, extending it’s branches into even the dens.

More uneasy than ever, the medicine cat continued towards the prey pile, but didn’t take anything for himself. He had lost his appetite.


	4. Chapter 1

Amberkit dashed around camp, aggravated with the inactivity. He stopped at the end of the ravine, eyes wide, ears back, and tail lashing, before dashing back towards the other end. Most of the cats were out on patrol or hunting, leaving only a few cats in camp and no one had minded the fully-grown kit running around camp.

“Dear StarClan, Amberkit. Why not get Ramsonkit to play with you?” Palestripe meowed. She watched him in mild amusement and was so far the only cat to speak to him. The lean warrior was lounging in a shaded area of camp with her apprentice Hollypaw beside her. The fluffy black molly only flicked her ear and continued to lick her paw.

“Ramsonkit’s sleeping,” he grumbled, slowing to a stop in front of the two.

Hollypaw scoffed, flicking her tail in annoyance. “Why not wake him up?”

“I don’t know, maybe.” He looked towards the nursery, which was under a manzanita tree, and pondered waking his brother up. Ramsonkit had left him on his own many times in the past to either sulk by himself or sleep, and waking him up would serve as a little light-hearted revenge.

Palestripe shouldered the apprentice. “Be nice. You could practice hunting on a moss ball,” she suggested as she addressed Amberkit again. He huffed and sat.

“Greypelt somehow lodged our only moss ball behind a rock, and I can’t leave camp to get another.”

Palestripe hummed and rested her head on her paws. “There’s an easy solution then. Hollypaw?”

“What?” Her tone had an odd bite to it that made Amberkit wonder if Palestripe would snap at her for being disrespectful, as the warrior sometimes did, along with several cats who weren’t in camp, but she only blinked calmly.

“When Boulderclaw’s patrol get back, why don’t you and Flintpaw gather some moss. Greypelt’s bedding hasn’t been changed in a while, and you can bring back extra for a new moss ball.”

Hollypaw eyed her mentor before slumping and resting her chin on the ground. “Fine.”

Amberkit watched them, flicking his tail to ease off the remaining energy buzzing under his pelt. “So I have to wait more.”

“For now.”

That was disappointing. He turned, ready to go back to doing–something–when he heard pawsteps. A patrol was returning. He watched the entrance, hoping it was Boulderclaw’s patrol, but Herbstar appeared, having leaped onto the stone floor from a ledge Amberkit couldn’t see. Her mate, Chervillight followed her carrying a large grey rabbit. Monarchwing, who was guarding the camp entrance, greeted them before the two made their way into the ravine.

Once more disappointed, he jumped onto a boulder and contemplated waking Ramsonkit up again.

He shifted as a raised fold on the rock scraped his paw. He brought his paw up to lick, and was momentarily thankful it didn’t break skin. He paused, having an idea. As a NightClan cat, leaping was something he’d have to do well and often. Being stuck in camp, he was able to practice on the boulders in camp, but he didn’t find those very challenging.

His amber eyes looked towards the camp walls, wondering if he could manage to climb them. They were steep but he could spot various places that he could jump onto. He wouldn’t leave camp, just climb up the side to give himself a challenge. Plus he didn’t think this was against the rules. His tail lashed with excitement as he stood and leaped down from the boulder he was perched on, only to run over to the camp wall and jump onto a higher ledge.

Amberkit looked around for the next best place to climb. He spotted it a few fox-lengths away and crouched low, wiggling his hunches, before pushing off the wall and leaping as far as he could. Being momentarily in open air made his pelt prickle with anxiety and excitement, until his feet found solid ground again.

His eyes were wide now as he looked for his next target. This was higher than he’d ever been before and it made his paws itch in anticipation.

“Amberkit?” He looked down to see Chervillight had spotted him. Herbstar blinked at her mate before following her gaze and frowned. “What are you doing?” The tension in the deputy’s voice wasn’t missed on him.

“Don’t worry, I’m not trying to leave camp,” he said nonchalantly and somewhat cockily. “I wanted to test myself.”

Chervillight looked towards Herbstar, who continued to stare up at him with a frown.

“Don’t go any higher than the boulder above you,” the leader finally said.

Amberkit nodded and went back to the task at hand–finding the next best place to place his paws. He actively ignored the leader’s eyes on his back as he crouched and sprung unto another ledge. The boulder Herbstar had pointed out to him was another few feet above him, and was the only place he could now reach. At this point he was a little more than half way to the top of the ravine.

He crouched again, eyeing the boulder with large eyes, when a commotion made him pause.

“Monarchwing!” Boulderclaw ran into camp, followed by Thornfang, Sparrowfoot, Fangpaw, and Flintpaw. “Is Herbstar back yet?”

“Yes, she’s over there.” The red molly gestured towards the leader, who had already stood and began heading towards the bulky warrior. Chervillight followed close behind.

“What is it?”

“There was a coyote in our territory recently. We couldn’t find it, but it’s scent was everywhere in the South.” From where Amberkit was perched, he could see everyone’s fur raise as Boulderclaw explained the news. He flicked his ear, wondering why everyone was worried over one coyote when they had a Clan of about twenty cats.

Herbstar looked towards Chervillight. “Were any of the patrols sent out with three or less cats?”

Chervillight flicked her tail in thought before her eyes widened. “Yes–Tornears is on a hunting patrol with Ruffledpelt and Logpaw. They went west.”

“Snaketooth left on his own,” Palestripe added, having sat up and padded towards the group.

Herbstar nodded. “Boulderclaw, take your patrol and find Tornears’ patrol. Palestripe, did Snaketooth say where he was going?” The large tom and his patrol ran out of camp as the leader addressed Palestripe.

“He didn’t tell me.”

“He’s by the cliffs!”

Amberkit stood, startled by the new yet familiar voice. Ramsonkit had crawled out from underneath the manzanita tree without him noticing, and was slowly padding towards the cats at the front of camp.

“He told you?” Chervillight clarified.

Ramsonkit stilled and dipped his head. “No. I saw him.”

Herbstar and Chervillight shared a look. “We can follow his scent from the camp entrance,” Herbstar said after a tense silence. She eyed Ramsonkit a moment more before turning towards the cats still there. “Chervillight, Palestripe, Monarchwing, come with me. Hollypaw can guard camp while we’re out. Ramsonkit and Amberkit–” she addressed them again. “Wake up Greypelt and Addertail. I want the five of you to stay in camp. A coyote won’t attack a group of five full-grown cats.” She didn’t wait for them to agree or disagree, and quickly left with the three warriors following. Hollypaw flicked her tail, annoyed, but stood and padded towards the entrance to take watch.

Ramsonkit flattened his ears and sighed before padding back towards the nursery, only to return with Addertail following him. Amberkit turned and started climbing down the ravine wall. Ramsonkit finally noticed his brother’s presence and watched him climb down.

“What were you doing up there?” Addertail asked as he slid onto level ground.

“Challenging myself,” he meowed as he padded towards them. “Ramsonkit, what do you mean you saw Snaketooth?”

The black and white kit stared at the ground with flattened ears. “I’ll wake up Greypelt.” Without another word he turned and headed towards the elder’s den.


	5. Chapter 2

Ramsonkit flattened his ears against the light streaming into the nursery. He shifted and curled into a tighter ball, when a thorn pricked his paw. Jolting, he blinked his eyes open and eyed the nest. He’d been using it for the past few days; there shouldn’t have been a thorn unless someone tracked it in.

Sitting plainly in his nest was a thorn, larger than he’d ever seen. It was nearly as large as his paw. He blinked, wondering how he could have missed it or how anyone could have brought that in.

“Ramsonkit.”

The kit sat up in his nest and looked around. The den was empty except for him, but the more he focused on his surroundings the more it looked off. He couldn’t wrap his head around what was different, but settled on it being too bright. The light streaming in from the patches in the gorse bush were blinding and he couldn’t see anything past the streams of bright white.

“Ramsonkit.”

Ramsonkit frowned, flicking his tail slowly, and pushed himself out from underneath the gorse bush. All he could see was white before it faded back and he was standing at the mouth of the nursery. Before him was a large area with heather and shrubs he couldn’t recognize surrounding the clearing and forming various dens and shaded areas. The sky above him was an unrecognizable white and he couldn’t hear any birds or rustling trees.

The black and white kit flattened his ears again and crouched low, feeling unnerved by the openness and blinding light around him.

“Ramsonkit.”

He jumped. The voice was a lot closer now, and he only then realized it had sounded muffled before. He eyed the clearing until someone brushed against his side, causing the kit to freeze.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The white cat walked in front of him, turning slightly to cast the kit a pleasant look. “It may have been best to recreate NightClan’s camp but–” they turned and eyed the camp like Ramsonkit was doing before they showed themself “–my thoughts got away from me.” The way this cat spoke was soft and mumbled. At times Ramsonkit had to angle his ears forward to understand what they were saying.

“Where are we?” Ramsonkit asked, forcing himself to relax and stand straighter. He scented the air, trying to catch the cat’s scent but everything was hidden by the smell of heather and wind. He could vaguely make out that the cat was a tom.

“This is PoppyClan’s camp. My old camp.” The cat said softly before he faced Ramsonkit and sat. He shifted on his paws, looking nervous. “Anything else you’d like to ask?”

Ramsonkit frowned, piecing together that this was a dream and the tom before him must have been a StarClan cat. But–who was he and why was he here now?

“Who are you?”

“Torrenttail. I was a warrior when Greypelt was a kit.” The thought of the raggedy old tom being a kit amused Ramsonkit. He couldn’t imagine him as anything other than the cat he was today. Still, he found himself believing the strange cat.

“Why’d you come to me? I’m not a medicine cat yet.”

“Ah, that.” The white tom blinked slowly and lowered himself onto his belly. “Because I wanted to. You’re not a medicine cat but you’ll be one day.”

Ramsonkit felt awkward on his paws and licked his paw to try to ease the anxious energy buzzing under his pelt. His chest felt fuzzy and warm. StarClan already knew he wanted to be a medicine cat? He vaguely wondered if it was bad letting himself feel proud knowing this.

“Is there anything else?”

The black and white kit contemplated any other questions he may have had, but shook his head. “I’ll let you know if I think of more.”

The white cat laughed and stood. “Perfect. Let’s start.” Before waiting for a response he turned and slinked past the heather into the meadow beyond. Startled, Ramsonkit jumped to his paws and ran after him.

When he caught up the white tom was padding at a moderately quick pace through the field of grass and flowers. Ramsonkit opened his mouth to ask where they were going but shut it, deciding he wanted to figure it out on his own.

Hardly a moment passed before the landscaped changed into the more familiar rocky forest of NightClan’s territory. Ramsonkit looked around, wondering if the dream was accurate to the waking world. The sky was still just as bright, so it wasn’t completely accurate. He angled his eyes to the forest where he could make out the sounds of various birds within the branches and pine needles.

“Here.” Ramsonkit nearly walked into Torrenttail as the StarClan cat suddenly stopped. Ramsonkit looked around him.

Snaketooth was there, sniffing a growing patch of flower Ramsonkit couldn’t name. The tabby didn’t acknowledge their presence, making Ramsonkit believe he was only a figment of the dream and couldn’t see them.

“Why are you showing me this?” He looked up at Torrenttail as he asked. Despite being fully-grown, he was still severely shorter than most cats.

“Do you know where this is?” The white cat responded as he started walking again, past Snaketooth. Ramsonkit watched him, eyed the NightClan medicine cat, and started following again.

“No, I don’t,” he said dryly.

Torrenttail didn’t elaborate and instead gently flicked the kit’s muzzle with his tail. “Look here.” He stopped again and gestured forward. Ramsonkit sighed, annoyed, and walked past him.

The ground dropped off a few tail-lengths ahead. Ramsonkit could hear water rushing far below. Curiously, he stepped closer to the cliffs and peered down. One more step would take him over the edge, left to tumble several tree lengths into a dark river below. Even at the height they were, Ramsomkit could feel the air cooled by the water brush against his whiskers. Uneasy, he stepped away from the cliff edge.

“I still don’t understand why you took me here,” he said as he looked to Torrenttail again.

The white tom sat and licked his paw. “I’m giving you information. Do with it what you want when you wake up.” He paused and looked towards the sky. “That should be now. It was nice meeting you, Ramsonkit. Good luck.” He gave Ramsonkit a final gentle expression before he stood and dashed away, quickly disappearing behind a boulder. Before Ramsonkit could move he was in his nest in the NightClan nursery. He blinked, confused until he realized where he was. Relief instantly flooded his pelt knowing he was in his own camp and the sky wasn’t actively trying to blind him.

"–ouldn’t find it, but it’s scent was everywhere in the South."

“Were any of the patrols sent out with three or less cats?”

“Yes–Tornears is on a hunting patrol with Ruffledpelt and Logpaw. They went west.”

Ramsonkit flicked his ear. Curious now, he stood and crawled out from under the manzanita tree forming the nursery. The urgency in his Clanmate’s voices made his tail twitch anxiously. In the clearing Herbstar and Chervillight were facing a patrol who stood on edge, with pelts fluffed and eyes wide.

“Snaketooth left on his own,” Palestripe meowed as she headed towards the group, stopping just beside the deputy.

Ramsonkit’s heart began to race. Whatever was happening sounded serious. Something was found in their territory and Snaketooth could be in danger. Anxiety built in the kit's chest as he remembered the night when the shadows around camp had scared him and left him not being able to leave his brother's side for the rest of the night.

 _One of those shadows could attack Snaketooth!_  He could have been shown that dream to warn them.

Ramsonkit flattened his ears and stared at the ground. He could be wrong. It could have been another dream that meant nothing. He could tell them where Snaketooth is and send them towards the cliffs, only for Snaketooth to be somewhere else. Their medicine cat could  _die_.

“Palestripe, did Snaketooth say where he was going?”

“He didn’t tell me.”

Ramsonkit shut his eyes and exhaled. Using all his will-power he pushed away all his doubts, actively trying not to think, and stood.

“He’s by the cliffs!”

* * *

 


	6. Chapter 3

“–and she was the most powerful leader this forest had ever seen.”

Amberkit huffed as he watched Greypelt dramatically act out the story he told. He was resting his chin on his paws and eyeing the elder with an amused expression. Ramsonkit sat beside him, his body language unreadable, but Amberkit could tell his brother was just as interested.

“That sounds too… soon,” the black and white kit said. “Fritillarystar was only the leader before Herbstar was?”

The wiry grey tom nodded and sat back on his hunches. “Indeed. But she won many battles and served her Clan well. With a scarred face and stone cold eyes, she made even the large IceClan cats uneasy. She was battle worn and mature but held a softness for her Clan. Our beloved Fritillary was the truest of warriors.”

Greypelt had an admiration in his eyes as he gazed forlornly at the sky, blue with a few wispy streaks of white. His posture stilled before he let out a soft sigh. Amberkit’s whiskers twitched, realizing why the tom was so eager to sing the deceased cat’s praises. Ramsonkit hadn’t.

“But surely there’s more in Clan history. Other great leaders and warriors who should have made just a lasting impact as she did?”

Greypelt huffed and flicked his tail. “You’re still a kit, son. Perhaps you’ll see reason when you meet someone nearly as inspiring as she was. One day.”

Ramsonkit hummed, shifting uncomfortably beside Amberkit. Amberkit stood and stretched. “It’s been a while. When do you think they’ll be back?”

As if responding to the black kit, the three heard pawsteps coming from the entrance of the ravine. Addertail and Hollypaw, who were sitting near the entrance, with the former licking the latter’s ears, also perked up at the sound.

Boulderclaw was the first to leap onto the ledge and pad into camp, followed by his earlier patrol and Tornears, Ruffledpelt, and Logpaw.

Hollypaw instantly stood and ran to her mom, who pressed her forehead to her daughter’s. Amberkit noticed that after a moment Hollypaw pulled away and tried to brush the affection off. She had a cool expression as she padded beside Ruffledpelt back into camp. Ruffledpelt only looked amused by her daughter’s behavior.

Tornears eyed the camp before setting down a lizard and turning to Addertail. “Herbstar’s not back yet?”

“Not yet.”

The ear-torn molly nodded at the nursemaid before picking up her catch and taking it to the prey pile. Amberkit noticed the rest of her patrol doing the same, and realized how hungry he was.

“I’m going to eat. Do either of you want anything?” He asked as he turned towards his brother and the elder who was noisily licking a large grey paw.

“How respectful of you,” Greypelt said with a toothy smile. “Your brother’s got manners,” he added while nudging Ramsonkit. Amberkit flicked his tail, feeling suddenly uncomfortable. “I’d love a pigeon, son. Thank you.”

Ramsonkit, meanwhile, murmured a “no thanks” as he shuffled closer towards the camp wall and further from the now larger group of cats in the center of the ravine.

Amberkit gave his brother an understanding look before he turned and headed towards the prey pile.

—

Amberkit was nearly done with his vole by the time Herbstar returned with Chervillight, Palestripe, Monarchwing, and Snaketooth. There was a collective sigh of relief around the camp at the sight of the five cats safe and sound. Amberkit could practically feel the tension leave the air.

He took another bite of the vole before passing it to Ramsonkit, who had sat up without him noticing and was now watching the returning cats with interest. They were brought into a conversation with the other cats in the ravine but Amberkit couldn’t make out anything they were saying due to how much chatter was happening.

Herbstar suddenly made eye contact with the young black tom. She held his gaze a moment before blinking slowly and returning to the conversation before her. Ramsonkit seemed to deflate and crouched beside Amberkit again.

Amberkit only gently headbutted him and purred loudly.

As cats began to settle down again Herbstar finally padded towards the two kits, followed by Snaketooth.

Nervous and excited energy built in his chest as he sat up and neatly curled his tail around his paws as they approached. He noticed Ramsonkit do the same.

“Thank you for waiting,” the grey leader started. “There are a few things I want to address with you two.”

Amberkit fought hard not to fidget, wondering if he somehow did something wrong. Herbstar, however, turned her gaze to Snaketooth and the tabby stepped forward.

“I heard you knew exactly where I was,” he said, sounding eager, as he sat in front of Ramsonkit. “How’d you know?”

Ramsonkit shifted, brushing his fur against Amberkit’s as he looked between the gathered cats. Amberkit could practically feel the anxiety building at his brother’s paws, and carefully rested his tail over Ramsonkit’s.

“I saw you in a dream,” he finally admitted. “I woke up in PoppyClan’s camp, met a cat who said he accidentally brought me there instead, then lead me to you.”

Snaketooth hummed, jutting his tooth and tilting his head as he eyed the kit. He then looked towards Herbstar. “‘Guess that settles it.”

“Indeed.” There was a laughter in her voice as she spoke. Her eyes shone in a way Amberkit had never seen from his leader. “You two will be apprentices by tonight.”

Amberkit jumped. “I completely forgot!” He froze when the other three only stared at him. Embarrassment made his pelt hot and he sat down again. “Sorry, ma’am.”

A nose gently pressed to his forehead. “Don’t worry about it. I’m not so strict as to stifle our young cats' energy, am I?”

No one responded and she suddenly pulled back to shoot Snaketooth a sharp gaze. “Am I?”

The medicine cat laughed. “Not at all.”

The grey molly flicked her tail, holding the medicine cat’s gaze, before she exhaled and relaxed again. “You two are free for the rest of the day, but expect a ceremony tonight.” With that she nodded, more to herself than anyone else, and headed towards her mate and son.

“That’s all?” Ramsonkit asked Snaketooth. The tabby nodded.

“You still want to be a medicine cat?”

“Yes.”

“Then that’s all. I’ll be glad to have you as an apprentice.”

The tom smiled at the young cat, who was practically shaking with excitement. Pride welled in Amberkit’s chest. He couldn’t stop himself from practically shoving Ramsonkit over as he pressed into his side.

–

Herbstar stood on the ledge over camp looking stoic and elegant and she called the Clan meeting. Amberkit could hardly stop himself from hopping in excitement near the nursery. Ramsonkit was much more reserved than he was, but was just as excited. His eyes were wide as he stared across the ravine and his tail would not lie still.

Addertail scoffed and drew her tongue over the black kit’s head as he squirmed under her. “You two need to settle down. You’ll no longer be kits and as such you need to act more disciplined and calm. NightClan doesn’t take cats who can’t abide by our customs.”

“Sure, because throwing cats out is definitely something Herbstar does,” Ramsonkit snarked, before he earned a sudden swipe to the ears. He hissed softly and ducked.

Addertail sighed. “You need to be good examples of NightClan. We can’t have the other Clans look at us and see a bunch of rambunctious kits.”

“Yeah but we’re not meeting the other Clans yet. We have time to learn ‘discipline’,” Amberkit said indignantly. The nursemaid groaned before shaking her head. Her entire demeanor seemed to change then.

“You’ll both do great.” The tabby nuzzled each of them in turn. “With time… a long, long time… I know you’ll be great cats. Cats who we’ll all be proud of.”

“You say that to every kit who leaves the nursery, Addertail.” The three turned to see Sparrowfoot padding up to them.

“And it’s true!” It was the nursemaid’s turn to become indignant. “Every cat has the potential to be great and be a good example in history and for the other Clans.”

The tom gave her a soft look, expression brimming with affection. “I think, you just want one of the kits you helped raise to be remembered.”

Addertail hisses and swiped at his ears but the tom only crouched and chuckled softly.

Amberkit, amused, turned his attention away from the two and towards the growing crowd of cats. As the last of the Clan left their dens and sat below the Highledge, Herbstar spoke.

“I’m proud to announce the making of two new apprentices. Amberkit and Ramsonkit have reached six moons and it’s time for them to become apprentices.”

Amberkit felt Addertail sit behind him, pride radiating from her pelt and a purr rumbling deep in her chest.

“Amberkit, come forward.”

Excitement lifted him to his paws. He could hardly think as he made his way to the front of the crowd. Everyone’s eyes only made his anticipation grow, feeding his eagerness to be named an apprentice.

“Amberkit, you have a flame within you, one that I can see will grow into a wildfire of ambition and compassion. You need a mentor who can nurture and guide this flame. So from this moment on until you receive your warrior name you shall be known as Amberpaw. Tornears will be your mentor. She has passion much like your own and I have no doubt she’ll do her best to train you as a skilled and valued NightClan warrior.”

Pride swelled in his chest, nearly suffocating him as the lithe ginger warrior stepped forward. All his senses were muted as they both leaned in to press noses. The gathered cats cheered, drowning out everything but their voices and his new mentor’s nose. Tornears stepped back and gestured for him to sit beside her a few tail lengths away, and the cheering slowed to a stop.

“Ramsonkit, step forward,” Herbstar continued without missing a beat.

Amberpaw beamed as he watched his brother step to the forefront of the crowd. He looked incredibly small compared to the rest of the gathered cats, but Amberpaw was convinced that was due to the tom constantly slouching. Ramsonkit’s tail was still lashing behind him.

“Ramsonkit, from this moment on until you receive your medicine cat name, you’ll be known as Ramsonpaw. You’re a bright young cat with a great mind and a promising future as a seer. Snaketooth is a good cat with a kind heart and a knowledge rivaling the oldest elder. I personally know he’ll be able to pass on the ways of the medicine cat to you.”

Cheering once again drowned out Amberpaw’s senses, but he made sure his voice was the loudest among his Clan. After Ramsonpaw and Snaketooth touched noses they sat together near Tornears and himself. Amberpaw beamed at his brother who returned a small but sincere smile as Herbstar congratulated the two then called the meeting to the end.

“Congratulations on finally becoming apprentices,” Fangpaw said as they passed them. “It took you long enough.”

Amberpaw stood, puffing out his chest. “And it won’t be long before we’re a warrior and medicine cat! We may even get our full names before you.”

The silver torbie snorted good-naturedly. “Good luck.”

Amberpaw smiled at his mentor who blinked slowly and turned to the medicine cat. “How about us four go for a tour of the territory?”

“Fine by me.”

A new energy pricked at Amberpaw’s paws as the four headed towards the entrance of camp. He was finally an apprentice! And he was going to do his best to be the best warrior he possibly could be!

* * *

 


	7. Chapter 4

The air was starting to chill as the day became evening but Ramsonpaw was well-rested and ready to learn all he could. Every once in a while Snaketooth would stop the patrol to name a specific flower or tree, and each time Tornears would wait patiently for the medicine cats.

Leaping and bounding across the rocky landscape of NightClan territory was notably more challenging in the waking world than it was in his dream. By the time they had reached the Southeastern part of their territory Ramsonpaw was panting and doing his best to ignore the ache in his paws. Amberpaw, who’s always had more energy than him, still seemed as active as ever. The larger of the two siblings was practically bouncing on his paws and several times Tornears had to remind him to calm down.

“Up this slope is the Gathering Place,” the ticked tabby explained as she fixed her gaze on the incline before them. “You’ll be able to meet the other Clans here soon.”

The area appeared to be on clearing higher up the mountain. It was much too open for Ramsonpaw’s tastes. He prefered NightClan’s territory even with its limited tree cover, it still had many crags and boulders to find shelter in.

“PoppyClan is to the North of us. Every moon they take a path at the base of the cliffs in order to reach the Gathering Place, but when river floods they stay within a few foxlengths of the cliff edge, which means they must sometimes cross our territory.” The red molly then gave both apprentices a sharp look. “You never need to start a fight near the cliffs but if a fight’s justified then lead them inland. We have an agreement with Cloudstar that says we take responsibility for every PoppyClan cat who falls off the cliffs while on our territory.”

Ramsonpaw flicked his ear, frowning. “Even if we have nothing to do with it?”

Snaketooth let out a gruff breath. “Cloudstar’s a prideful foxmouth who doesn’t believe in accidents. I reckon he’s only looking for a reason to antagonize Herbstar more.”

Ramsonpaw and Amberpaw shared a look before the four continued their patrol, moving along the Southern border. By then the sun was setting and Ramsonpaw could hear a few loud crickets begin to chirp. They once again stopped when they reached a large gaping hole in the earth. Unease bit at Ramsonpaw’s pelt as he stared across the large area of missing land. It was just as large as their camp. Amberpaw crept forwards with interest, and peered down the stone walls.

“What is this place?” Amberpaw asked as he stepped back but continued to gaze across the hole.

“We call this the Quarry,” Tornears answered. “In the future, don’t step within a foxlength of the ledge.”

Amberpaw nodded and stepped back a few more paces.

“There’s an interesting tale around this place. Have you two ever heard of how the first monsters came to be?” Snaketooth asked as he sat and curled his tail over his paws.

“I haven’t!”

“No.”

Tornears flicked her tail anxiously. “That’s not a good idea.”

Snaketooth gave her a questioning look, squinting an eye as he did so.

“Speaking of monsters outside camp,” Tornears clarified. “Especially so close to the Quarry. We could wake one up.”

Snaketooth laughed loudly, causing the three other cats to jump. “It’ll be fine! When I was an apprentice my mentor would jokingly taunt monsters as close as Amberpaw is now. We’ll be fine.”

Tornears looked at her apprentice who stared back wide-eyed, before she sighed. “We have a lot of ground to cover, Snaketooth. Maybe you can tell them when we get back to camp.”

The tom sighed dramatically. “Alright, fine. I’ll tell you when we reach camp again.”

“Thank you,” Tornears said.

“Mhm.”

The continued on without any protest. It was dark by the time they reached the cliffs, having gone nearly in a circle around the territory around this point.

“Now if you just follow the cliffs South you’ll be at the Gathering Place again.”

Both apprentices nodded, too tired to verbally respond.

Tornears gestured across the river. “On that side of the forest is IceClan and IvyClan.” Ramsonpaw looked to where she was speaking, hardly processing anything anymore. Their territories were at a higher elevation than NightClan and PoppyClan. “The pine forest is IceClan. Their leader is Rosestar, who’s a large white molly who only speaks with signs. The thicker section is IvyClan, which is lead by Tanglestar. She’s--”

“A stumpy legged ball of fluff with a voice that matches the loudest of birds?” Snaketooth cut in.

Amberpaw burst out laughing while Tornears sputtered.

“That’s very disrespectful,” she finally said, ears angling sideways.

The tom flicked his ear. "It's true."

“Anyway I think it’s time to head back to the ravine,” Tornears said with a disgruntled sigh. Snaketooth snorted but nodded.

Relief instantly flooded Ramsonpaw. He wanted nothing more than to lie in his nest and sleep. As they started walking again he stared at the ground and let his thoughts roam.

He was excited to be an apprentice, but he felt uneasy now. He was used to spending all his time in camp either playing with Amberpaw or sleeping, but now all he could think about was how much his paws hurt and legs ached. He wanted to sleep for a moon.

He has more responsibilities now, and so much to learn. Doubt built in his mind, wondering if he’d even be able to remember it all. There was so much, too much.

His breathing hitched. Did he make a mistake becoming an apprentice? He didn’t want all those duties, he just wanted to curl up and forget the world existed.

\--

He was ready to drop where he stood by the time they climbed the slope towards the ravine. Ramsonpaw waited for Tornears and his brother to leap onto the ledge before he followed. He felt Snaketooth jumped onto the ledge behind him. He paused and looked towards his mentor.

“Usually the other apprentices will build the new nests while you’re out. Since you’re going in my den and you’re tired you can sleep in the spare bed.” Snaketooth kept his voice soft and quiet. It was odd since his voice was naturally gruff.

Ramsonpaw nodded. He let Snaketooth pass him before following the medicine cat into camp.

“You should eat first.”

Ramsonpaw was ready to decline until Amberpaw sleepily called him over, having already brought a large squirrel out of the prey pile. Tornears smiled at her apprentice before heading towards the warriors den.

Ramsonpaw nodded at his mentor and started walking towards his littermate when Snaketooth suddenly stopped him.

“I know sudden change is hard, but I’m truly glad to have you as my apprentice,” the tom said, keeping the same tone he had earlier. Ramsonpaw found the gravelly yet gentle nature of the tom’s voice soothing. “What Herbstar said is true. You’re smart and I don’t doubt you’ll do well as a medicine cat.”

Ramsonpaw nodded slowly. “How’d you know?”

Snaketooth huffed, amused. “Sometimes reassurance can go a long way.” He paused. “And it’s obvious you need extra reassurance.”

Ramsonpaw scoffed and frowned at the ground until Snaketooth jokingly shouldered him. “You best not keep Amberpaw waiting.” Without another word the strange tabby padded towards the medicine cat den. Ramsonpaw watched him go. He didn’t feel reassured, but it was nice knowing his mentor was proud of him despite him having done nothing yet. He couldn’t help but wonder if the medicine cat was only saying that without meaning it.


	8. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Horror themes and lots of death (Clan history in detail)

Smokestar was a lithe and quick cat with long legs and large ears. She was a noble and intelligent leader who was respected by NightClan but not the other Clans, who distrusted her due to her bloodline.

Countless times they refused to negotiate or take her seriously, but she was a forgiving cat who wouldn’t start a war without a good reason, and pride wasn’t a good reason.

One night her medicine cat received a sign of destruction and death, which would be unavoidable unless the other Clans agreed to help NightClan.

“Please! I’m begging you,” the skinny black cat yowled during the gathering night. “Have you no pity for the lives of my Clanmates?”

Reedstar, the brown PoppyClan leader, huffed in annoyance and flicked his tail, but it was Nightjarstar, the raggedy black tabby IvyClan leader to stand with a lashing tail and unsheathed claws.

“That is it, Smokestar! We’re fed up with you constantly asking for handouts! A real leader wouldn’t grovel like you have. Our three Clans are strong, and if NightClan is too weak to support itself then maybe they should blame the leader who lead them into that position.”

Finally sick of the constant antagonizing, Smokestar tore at the bark beneath her paws and hissed venomously. “That’s only because you three Clans have been stealing from and attacking us for moons! Meanwhile their leaders do nothing but act as if they’re the Ancients themselves, eating only the finest prey while they sit upon thrones of dishonor and disgrace.”

“Smokestar.”

Everyone froze as Pinestar spoke. The large grey molly had a sorrowful expression as she met Smokestar’s eyes, making the black molly’s fur rise.

“NightClan is currently nothing but beggars and cats too afraid to get hurt. True warriors would rise to meet any adversary and overcome it. Maybe this is your chance to prove yourself to us. IceClan will listen to you when you’re able to move past this disaster.”

Again and again, they continued to refuse. NightClan could only wait in bated breath and pray for the destruction to pass.

\--

“Don’t IceClan cats have a reputation for being overly nice?” Amberpaw asked. “Greypelt said once during a bad Leafbare five different cats asked him if he’d let them bring prey until Newleaf.”

Snaketooth chuckled lightly. “Of course they are. This happened early in Clan history, before many of the notable known cats were born and influenced their Clans.”

“It was Pinestar’s son who went on to establish IceClan’s morals today,” Tornears added from where she was sitting. Hollypaw and Flintpaw were also listening intently to Snaketooth as he told them about the Quarry and the first monsters.

Snaketooth nodded and continued.

“It happened after the medicine cat fell ill and passed. It was the start of a rain season. The storm lasted days, weeks, moons even. The river flooded so severely that NightClan had to move their camp further towards the mountain. They made their temporary camp were the Quarry is today.”

\--

“This den won’t be able to hold up,” the deputy said.

Smokestar didn’t verbally respond and only blinked slowly. She had grown gaunt and tired over the moons. Exhaustion overtook her frame, making it hard to hunt and patrol. Still, she was determined not to lose hope and still did her best for her Clanmates. Because they continued to be a Clan, she knew they would eventually overcome the storm.

Smokestar gathered a few of her warriors as a hunting patrol, planning and hunting further up the mountain in the hopes all the prey moved upland as well.

It was still raining, making it hard to navigate the soaked landscape, but the patrol managed to catch a few birds and lizards before making their way back to their makeshift camp. As Smokestar stepped into the clearing she felt an intense fear in her gut. The leader paused.

Running on pure instinct, she dropped her catch and yowled for everyone to hear.

“Evacuate! Evacuate the clearing immediately!” Her voice was loud and clear despite the pouring rain. Everyone heard, and with only a few confused looks, cats were already moving to escape dens and seek shelter deeper in the woods.

It was in that moment that that a loud and resonating crack was heard. Unlike thunder, it didn’t come from the sky but the earth below their paws. Smokestar fell onto her belly as the ground dipped before her. Startled, the frail leader yowled and leaped backwards. The ground continued to crack and dip.

She could hardly believe her eyes as she saw the clearing fall into the earth under the heavy water and life. Trees tore and fell, stones dislodged dens and footing.

When it finally stopped--

\--

“Snaketooth,” Tornears warned. The tom blinked and looked at the molly who in turn gestured to the three newest apprentices.

Ramsonpaw and Amberpaw both sat wide-eyed with mouths agape and ears back. Flintpaw, who was older than them but also hadn’t heard the story was dumbfounded as he stared at the medicine cat. Hollypaw had her chin resting on her paws, watching their reactions with mild amusement.

“What happened to her Clanmates?” Amberpaw questioned, voice raised an octave. He could feel Ramsonpaw’s pelt fluffing up beside him and knew his was doing the same.

His head was reeling, trying to process everything Snaketooth was telling them. From what he understood about monsters, he could only assume what that meant for the rest of the story and he hoped for the best. The idea of going anywhere near the Quarry made his stomach churn.

Still, he felt compelled to hear how it ended. Unlike Ramsonpaw who was eyeing the camp as if every shadow would suddenly jump out at him, Amberpaw felt interest and wonder, focusing solely on the medicine cat.

“You’d know that if you didn’t interrupt,” the tabby huffed. He flicked his tail lazily before continuing.

\--

When it finally stopped, Smokestar gasped and opened her eyes. Where a camp once stood was now a gaping hole in the earth. She reeled back only to brush against one of her clanmates.

“Everyone, regroup!” her deputy yowled. Smokestar stared in horror ahead of her before she suddenly snapped out of her thoughts and shook herself. Her Clan needed her now.

Rising to her full height, she looked at the cats gathered near here. It was the hunting patrol she had taken with her to the mountain and a few queens with their kits. Everyone else--she couldn’t think about that.

“We need to find any survivors,” she started. “And pull them out.” She then turned to one of the cats present. “Take the queens and kits and find them somewhere safe, high, and dry.”

For the rest of the night she did everything she could for her Clan. No one who had fallen into the Quarry had survived, which left only nine cats with her. Smokestar remained, strong, and at the next gathering, she and her Clan came with a new fire at their paws.

True to her word, Pinestar agreed to help what remained of NightClan. They were able to return to their previous camp after the rain stopped and the river receded.

But, they still had no medicine cat, and no one was there to guide the fallen cats to StarClan. One night it was Smokestar who had a dream of StarClan warning her of a new evil in their territory.

\--

Amberpaw was aware of Hollypaw shifting into a crouch, with her paws under her chest. The fluffy black molly was now staring keenly at the medicine cat.

Flintpaw, meanwhile, was mumbling a constant “no no no no no” as he ducked and hid his head under his paws.

“Monsters are what we call the things that lurk in the shadows at the edge of our territory, the things that howl and make strange noises when everything else is silent, the things we sometimes see from the corner of our eyes but can’t explain, the things that want nothing more than to prey on us cats and cannot be spoken to or reasoned with like normal animals.

They’re the spirits of cats who were confined to the earth after being unable to enter StarClan. They’re poor lost cats who’ve lost their way and know of nothing but pain and hunger. They can no longer care for their distant clanmates or the lives of anyone in the forest.”

\--

The first meeting with a monster was between an apprentice and the beast. It was a shadow with a rotten smell. It had met the apprentice alone, then attacked. This was the first meeting, and was soon followed by more.

There was a series of deaths, not just in NightClan, but every Clan. While Reedstar and Nightjarstar wanted someone to blame, Smokestar knew what was behind it. She spoke with Pinestar in secret and the two plotted a way to rid the forest of monsters.

There was a great battle, one that was a serious blow to the two Clans, but they came out victorious. They managed to chase them back into the Quarry, but over countless seasons they would regroup and return only to be chased back again. With each attack the monsters seemed to grow in numbers.

Finally there was the arrival of a cat named Peregrine. He was the first Speaker, and the cat chosen to be NightClan’s next medicine cat. It was him who created a ceremony that would let the disastrous souls sleep. He never rested, working for a whole moon to bring peace to each and every monster who stalked the land, all the original monsters who fell into the Quarry, and all the cats who had lost their lives fighting monsters.

\--

“What are you telling my son?” a voice suddenly cut in, pulling Amberpaw from the story. Chervillight watched the group with a frown.

Snaketooth snorted. “An important part of Clan history. I’m surprised he doesn’t know it already.”

“I was waiting for him to get older.” The deputy sounded exasperated, but not angry.

Flintpaw suddenly jumped as someone in camp sneezed.

Chervillight sighed. “Flintpaw, why don’t you come share a mouse with me?”

“O-okay.” The black tom stood on shaky legs and followed his mom. She gave Snaketooth a stiff expression before she lead Flintpaw away.

Amberpaw looked towards Hollypaw who was now nibbling on her paw pad with a relaxed expression. He let his thoughts drift back to Smokestar. She had black fur like Hollypaw. Except lithe and long-limbed.

He felt something spark in his chest. Smokestar was a great leader, who was respected by her Clan. She was strong and never backed down even when things seemed hopeless. But she wasn’t overly prideful or ambitious either, and forgiving when faced with the other Clans. Amberpaw lied down and rested his head on his paws. She was amazing and he hoped to be like her one day.

* * *

 


	9. Chapter 6

‘Valerian is used as a relaxant… Chamomile is also a relaxant… Basil is…’

Ramsonpaw frowned as he pawed the herb. Snaketooth had explained a number of herbs and uses already, and was constantly patient when Ramsonpaw fell short. The apprentice sighed, feeling as if he was failing somehow.

Snaketooth reasoned with him that as a new apprentice he wouldn’t remember every herb and their uses right away, but the illogical part of Ramsonpaw’s mind told him again and again that he wasn’t to par with that Snaketooth wanted for an apprentice.

‘Basil is for… What is basil used for?’

He flicked his ear and stood to stretch.

It had been a few days since their apprentice ceremony and it was drawing closer to Halfmoon. Snaketooth and Tornears had decided on that being the date when the apprentices would be taken to Moonhill.

Ramsonpaw shook himself and sat back down, refocusing on the herbs before him. After another moment of trying to remember what basil was for and growing more and more frustrated, he finally decided he wasn’t going to remember and stood to grab something from the prey pile.

Within a few pawsteps of the prey pile his view was suddenly blocked by Monarchwing. The molly blinked in surprise before she set down the bluejay she was carrying. “Here. I just caught this.”

“Thank you.” Ramsonpaw thought he sounded awkward as he hooked a claw on the bluejay and pulled it closer to him. He paused and looked up to see Monarchwing staring at him. “Yes?” He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his Clanmates.

“Why’d you want to become a medicine cat?” Monarchwing’s voice sounded curious and sincere as she sat and tilted her head.

Ramsonpaw pawed at the bluejay as he spoke. “I like learning, and thought it would be neat to know how to look after my Clanmates.” He paused in thought. “Plus I may live longer and being a medicine cat seems more fulfilling to me than constantly patrolling, hunting, and fighting.”

Monarchwing nodded as she kept her gaze on Ramsonpaw. The tom shifted, feeling uncomfortable.

The red tabby had always made him feel weird. Not in a necessarily good or bad way, but weird enough for him to not like it. She had an aura that said she was friendly and he knew her to be honest, but something in her gaze always unnerved him. Whenever their eyes met it was like she was peering through him, assessing everything going on in his mind, analyzing everything he thought and felt.

He often thought of the warrior like a fish. She swam beneath a current that distorted her own image to others. He could never see her clearly due to the water that surrounded her, yet she could see and understand everything.

Now that he thought about it, he’d never seen her be particularly adamant about anything. She was always following orders without objection. He knew hardly anything about her.

“Why did you become a warrior?”

She looked mildly taken aback. “Me? Well, becoming a warrior felt freeing, as if I was finally my own cat.” She paused, and when she spoke again her voice had softened. “As a kit I thought becoming a warrior was just the normal route, but after Asterclaw passed away, I decided I wanted to be the best warrior I could be. For her.”

“I heard she pulled Amberpaw and I out of a river as kits,” he said, not knowing how else to respond.

Monarchwing chuckled lightly as she dropped her head. “Yeah. She’s the one who brought you two here.” Ramsonpaw hummed, feeling slightly more at ease.

He didn’t feel any particularly strong emotion towards Asterclaw. She was friendly with a spunky side, and would always make a point to bother him, but she wasn’t motherly like Addertail was. She was just another warrior who loved kits. Ramsonpaw was sure Amberpaw had a closer bond to her than he did.

“Anyway, I heard you and Amberpaw are going to Moonhill in a few days,” the warrior started again. “Are you nervous?”

Ramsonpaw flattened his ears, wanting to snap that he wasn’t as nervous as everyone made him out to be, but in this case he was. So he nodded, prodding at the bluejay by his paws. “Yeah. We have to travel through IvyClan and, I don’t know. I know it’s illogical but what if we’re stopped by a patrol?” He let his voice stop there, not speaking the number of ways the trip could go wrong before or after that.

She hummed. “You’ll be fine. Snaketooth’s done this countless times and he never has a problem with it.”

Ramsonpaw stayed quiet. Monarchwing finally stood.

“I’m going to take a nap. Good luck, Ramsonpaw.” At that she padded away. Ramsonpaw watched her for a few moments before he picked up the bluejay and padded over to the three bundles of herbs he left out.

\--

A few days had passed and soon it was time for them to head to Moonhill. Amberpaw was lashing his tail in an attempt to let off some of the energy building under his pelt. Ramsonpaw felt excited too, but more nervous than anything.

They were sitting by the entrance of camp waiting for their mentors to head out. Currently, Snaketooth was finishing putting a few dandelion roots away while Tornears was bidding Ruffledpelt a farewell.

Amberpaw nudged Ramsonpaw before crouching down. Ramsonpaw followed and after Amberpaw made sure no one was eavesdropping he spoke. “I’ve been thinking about this for a few moons, but I don’t think I’m a tom.”

Ramsonpaw blinked, not expecting that. “Okay. Do you want me to start calling you a molly?”

Amberpaw shifted a bit, looking nervous. “I don’t know. I don’t feel like a tom but I don’t know what it’s like to be a molly. I just know it makes me uncomfortable whenever cats refer to me as your brother, or as a tom. Maybe… can you start calling me ‘they’ instead of ‘he’ until I see how it fits?”

Ramsonpaw nodded. “Okay. Have you told anyone else?”

“Nope.”

“Well, okay.” Ramsonpaw stood as he saw Snaketooth and Tornears approaching. Amberpaw sat up as well.

“Be yourself,” Ramsonpaw said quietly to his littermate. “And whatever you find you feel like, I’ll support you.”

Amberpaw beamed and pressed their forehead to Ramsonpaw’s shoulder, and nearly knocked the black and white tom over.

“Hey! Be easy.”

“Sorry.” Despite the apology Amberpaw was purring loudly and hadn’t moved from Ramsonpaw’s side.

“You two ready to go?” Tornears said as they reached them.

The two apprentices nodded.

“Then let’s head out.”

* * *

 

Here's a drawing of Ramsonpaw by my amazing friend Jam! 

You can find their blog here: https://dracofelin.tumblr.com/

Their art blog here: https://dragofelid.tumblr.com/

And their own Warrior cats fic here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15810273/chapters/36800787

And another here: https://marvelouswarriors.tumblr.com/

Seriously, go support them. They're amazing and I love them a lot


	10. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Hunger and bad living conditions

Pondtail hissed and curled tighter into themself, feeling their stomach twist in pain. A distant passing car was heard overhead, but Pondtail didn’t respond, keeping their head under their paws. Their breathing was ragged as they exhaled, and tried to focus their senses on anything other than the hunger biting at their belly. They couldn’t think passed the thick fog filling their head.

They hardly moved when they heard pawsteps heading towards them. They vaguely wondered if this stranger was here to finish them off for good. Instead, they were met with the sweet scent of fresh kill. Pondtail dropped their paw and blearily opened their eyes.

The stranger stood over them, a dark red silhouette against the light behind them. Pondtail couldn’t make out any features on them. The cat dropped the mouse and pushed it towards the sick creamy white cat.

Not questioning it and hardly thinking, Pondtail pulled the mouse closer and hungrily bit into it, and nearly choked with how quick they swallowed it. The strange cat waited patiently with a tail curled around their paws.

It was only after some of the fog cleared that Pondtail was able to focus on this cat.

They smelled like a tom and they had a ruddy colored pelt and amber eyes. Their expression was relaxed but seemed to hold a strange protective nature. Pondtail coughed lightly.

“Why’d you help me?”

“I didn’t want to see you die.” The response was so simple. The stranger sounded as if it was obvious and Pondtail briefly wondered if they were weird to question the cat’s motives.

They huffed, tiredly dropping their chin onto their paws. “Thank you. Who are you?”

“I’m--”

Pondtail jolted awake, kicking at the moss forming their bedding. They breathed heavily a few moments, looking around in blind confusion, before they realized where they were. At camp. In the warriors den. Safe. Not starving.

“Pondtail?” A cream and white tabby molly poked her head into the den. “You ready?”

Pondtail sighed and shakily stood. “Yeah. Give me a moment.”

Risingwind didn’t respond and disappeared from the entrance. Pondtail waited a few moments, focusing on their breathing. They licked the fur on their shoulder flat and shook away the dream before following the molly out of the den.

\--

Pondtail spotted a duck preening by the pond and dropped into a hunter’s crouch. They kept their eyes focused on the aquatic bird as they slowly started creeping forwards, making sure they were downwind and the duck didn’t spot them. The duck looked to be young, as it wasn’t as large as other ducks. Pondtail froze as they stepped on a twig, silently cursing themself.

The bird eyed the field for several heartbeats before it went back to cleaning its feathers. Pondtail exhaled and slowly started stalking forward again. They stopped when they reached the end of the heathers, knowing they needed to dash and catch the duck quickly before it flew off.

Pondtail looked around the area, wondering the best way to attack. Seeing no better alternative, they dropped down and readied themself to dash.

The duck spotted them and was in the air before they reached it. It landed in the water a tree length away. Pondtail’s whiskers twitched as they eyed the duck in disappointment.

“Nice attempt,” Risingwind said as she exited the heather and padded up to the cream-silver and white cat. Pondtail nodded. They were slowly getting used to PoppyClan’s esoteric style of speaking, knowing the molly meant that as a compliment.

They sighed. “Did you or Bristletail catch anything?”

“Bristletail caught a mouse.”

As if on cue the ruddy tom pushed his way out of the heather with a small mouse in his jaws. His eyes met with Pondtail’s before he padded towards the two and set the mouse down. The tom licked his chest a few times in what Pondtail assumed was pride since he was the only one to catch anything. “Goosewhisker’ll have our ears for this.”

Risingwind huffed and flicked her tail. “Goosewhisker can bite me.”

Pondtail pawed the mouse. “Think Teaselfeather will like this?”

“I hope so,” Bristletail meowed. “I don’t want to hunt anymore. The other warriors can catch the rest of the prey.”

“How generous of you,” Pondtail said blankly.

Risingwind stilled and scented the air. Her Clanmates watched her as she turned, flicking her tail slowly.

“What is it?” Bristletail asked.

“Rabbit.” The cream molly crouched, signing with her tail for them to follow, and crept through the grass. Bristletail made a small snort but crouched and followed her and Pondtail.

The three made their way around the heather patch. In the field ahead of them was a brown rabbit sniffing through the grass. Risingwind continued to sign as she kept her eyes on the rabbit.

“Bristletail, go around the heather to ambush it. Pondtail, stand near the tunnel so it doesn’t escape. Wait for me to pounce.”

The two nodded despite her not seeing them and crept off in separate directions. Pondtail easily found the burrow and stayed hidden in the grass behind it, ready to make their presence known if the rabbit ran towards them. They watched as Risingwind slowly crept towards the rabbit, circling until she was satisfied with the direction she wanted to herd it.

With a yowl she lunged from the grass, chasing towards the rabbit with a speed only PoppyClan cats were capable off. Startled, the rabbit took off perpendicular to her, racing towards the burrow. Pondtail lunged from the grass, hissing, and attempting to snag the rabbit in their claws. It turned and bolted in the opposite direction, heading towards the heather only for Bristletail to emerge from it, within a tail length of the rabbit. It tried to change directions yet again but Bristletail was already on top of it.

Pondtail straightened and ran towards the two. “Nice catch. And good plan.”

Risingwind purred, raising her head in delight while Bristletail looked as if he was showing off to a group of amazed apprentices.

“This should appease our tick-bitten deputy,” Bristletail said as he lifted the rabbit in his jaws. The three began heading back to fetch the mouse when Pondtail stopped.

A strange scent was wafting through the air. Pondtail wrinkled their nose at the strange scent. “Wait you two. I smell something.”

Pondtail kept their tail low as they followed the scent. It was similar to their old home in Twolegplace, but more organic and dustier. The scent trail lead them to the border of NightClan and the three paused.

Pondtail sighed, dismayed, and turned towards Bristletail. “You recognize that, don’t you?”

Bristletail flicked his ear and raised his head, scenting the air, before he nodded. “It smells like where we used to live.”

Pondtail nodded, turning their gaze towards NightClan’s territory. They were able to distinguish the scent of their old home mixed with the smell of forest and NightClan.

Risingwind hummed. “It’s Twolegplace,” she said. “A kittypet could have gotten out, or a rogue passing through.”

“They're a long way from Twolegplace. We should tell Cloudstar,” Pondtail said. “And have him warn NightClan at the next gathering in case it’s a rogue.”

Risingwind turned back towards their own territory. “Let’s head back.” She took off, heading back to their previous hunting area.

Pondtail and Bristletail followed her more slowly. Unease built in Pondtail's stomach. They knew the scent of Twolegplace, and while the scent was from Twolegplace, it was specifically from their old home.

* * *

 


	11. Chapter 8

The patrol had made it to the base of the slope parallel to the cliffs, before PoppyClan's territory. Ramsonpaw shuddered feeling how the air was chilled by the river running before them. It was more mellow than he expected. Instead of a raging current that could sweep them away at any moment the river was calm. In several sections the water swirled in small pools where it got trapped behind a barrier of rocks. Still, the river was wide and the thought of swimming made a shiver run down Ramsonpaw’s spine.

“Follow our lead,” Snaketooth said from ahead of the two apprentices. “The river can still sweep you away if you’re not careful.”

Ramsonpaw shared an anxious look with Amberpaw before Snaketooth leaped into the water. He half ran, half swam until he reached a large boulder to climb onto. The medicine cat wasted no time as he jumped from rock to rock until he reached the near center of the river when he’d have to swim again. Here the medicine cat paused and turned back.

“Alright, why don’t you go, Amberpaw?” Tornears meowed. “Be sure to watch your step.”

Amberpaw’s tail twitched anxiously. “I-I don’t… There isn’t an easier section to cross?”

Tornears shook her head. “If you fall we’ll pull you out, don’t worry.”

Ramsonpaw rested his tail against his littermate’s, hoping it was reassuring. Amberpaw gave him a grateful glance before they exhaled and padded into the water. Uncomfortable, the black cat waded towards the first boulder and leaped onto it. They shook themself before eyeing the next rock with a stiff tail.

At each leap Ramsonpaw expected his littermate to fall into the water, and let out a shaky breath when they finally reached Snaketooth.

“Alright, your turn, Ramsonpaw.”

Ramsonpaw nodded and stiffly padded towards the water’s edge. The river lapped at his paws. He felt a deeply ingrained fear rise in his chest making it hard to breathe. His fur rose as he stared at the water before him. The sound of the current was deafening how, muting all Ramsonpaw’s senses.

Another small wave hit his paws making the apprentice lurch backwards. All he could see was the river, pulling at him, pulling him under, suffocating, suffocating--

Tornears leaned against him with a loud purr. Ramsonpaw exhaled and closed his eyes, focusing on the rumbling in her chest. After a few minutes when he felt himself calm down again, he swallowed and opened his eyes. The only sounds the river made was the gentle splashing against the stones.

“Do you want to head back?”

Her tone was so gentle, it made frustration rise in his chest. He hated feeling so weak and useless. This frustration turned into angered determination. He didn’t need to be given extra treatment. Apprentices have always crossed here, and there was no way he was going to be the one who couldn’t do it.

Ramsonpaw nodded and pulled away as he stood. “No, I can do it.”

Tornears nodded and watched him carefully as he padded back towards the edge of the river. He breathed deeply and eyed the first boulder, wondering if he could just jump onto it.

But it was too far from where he stood. Ignoring the anxiety swirling in his stomach he jumped into the water and quickly swam towards the boulder. He pulled himself up and shook the water from his pelt, feeling heavy and light at the same time.

“Easy does it,” Snaketooth commented. “Don’t rush it.”

Ramsonpaw leaped from rock to rock, taking his time between each jump to make sure he wouldn’t fall. When he reached the rock behind Amberpaw they gave him a slight smile.

Tornears followed behind him, and when she caught up to the group Snaketooth turned towards the river again.

“Here the current is strongest, but it shouldn’t bother you unless you’re not prepared for it or if there’s a flood.”

Snaketooth pushed off his boulder, diving into the dark water. The tabby easily swam towards the shore with only his tail being pulled by the current. If the situation wasn’t so stressful, Ramsonpaw would have found the way his mentor’s head bobbed in the water amusing.

When he reached the shore and pulled himself out he called Amberpaw over, with another promise of pulling them out if they fell.

After Amberpaw made it to the other side it was Ramsonpaw’s turn. Seeing his littermate easily swim across did ease some of the anxiety swirling in his stomach, and he found it much easier to dive in.

As he felt the current tugging at him he tightly shut his eyes and focused only on propelling himself forward until his paws scraped against the sand on the other side.

“You made it!” Amberpaw exclaimed and Ramsonpaw shakily pulled himself from the water and tried to shake some of the water from his pelt.

“I never want to do that again,” he admitted.

Snaketooth chuckled. “You’re gonna have to on the way back. The first time’s the hardest.”

Tornears pulled herself out of the water and shook herself. “Nice job you two. If you keep that up you’ll be earning the -stream suffix.” Amusement lit her eyes as she spoke.

Amberpaw smiled. “I wouldn’t mind being called Amberstream.”

“I think… Amberblaze would suit you,” Ramsonpaw said, thinking of how energetic his sibling was.

Amberpaw hummed in thought before they shook their head. “I like -stream better. It sounds prettier.”

“If you like the pretty names, I propose -flower,” Tornears said with amusement as she started climbing up the slope towards the territories. "Addertail had a sister with the -flower name and I always liked it."

They traveled along the river beside IvyClan's territory. Ramsonpaw found it interesting how vastly different their territory was from his own. They had thicker trees, and shrubs that covered most of the ground, obstructing his view of the rest of the territory. They smelled like pines and marsh. It was a strange murky scent with a hint of something Ramsonpaw couldn't place. A particularly strong scent hit him, and he paused only to see the other three caught it too.

“We should be running into a patrol soon,” Tornears said.

“Pheh, what’re they gonna do?” Snaketooth responded indignantly. His response only made Ramsonpaw’s fur rise again.

It wasn’t long before they were greeted by a patrol of three cats.

The IvyClan cats has emerged from the shrubs to see the NightClan cats and cautiously approached.

They were short, as short as he was, with small legs, tails, and ears. They looked weird to Ramsonpaw, who was used to seeing cats with long legs and tails. His eyes met with another IvyClan cat in the patrol, a black cat with a red undercoat. The cat narrowed their eyes suspiciously and Ramsonpaw ducked his head. The third IvyClan cat was a plain black cat who looked as young as him.

“Hey, Sapheart. You’re looking as lively as ever,” Snaketooth called. The leader of the patrol, a red spotted tabby flicked her tail and tilted her head.

“Snaketooth. Hi.” Her eyes swept over the patrol, noticing the two cats who’ve never met her before, before she focused on the medicine cat again. “Are you taking new apprentices to Moonhill?”

“Indeed!”

The tabby nodded, approaching until she was only a few tail lengths away. “Hello. I’m Sapheart.”

“I’m Amberpaw, and this is my brother, Ramsonpaw!”

“Nice to meet you two. And good luck on your journey.”

“It was nice seeing you. I wish you the best of hunting,” Tornears said.

Sapheart smiled tiredly at the taller molly. “You too.”

As they left Amberpaw kept turning around to look behind them. Ramsonpaw could vaguely hear the mean brownish one hissing something but couldn’t make out what it was. “Who were they?” Amberpaw asked.

“The red tabby was Sapheart. She’s friendly but grumpy sometimes too. I think she snaps when she’s overworked,” Tornears said. “The reddish-black one was Minkfur. He’s not very pleasant to be around, so try not to upset him if you ever talk to him. And the young black cat was Roachpaw. I don’t know much about her so you’ll just have to meet her at a gathering.”

Amberpaw nodded. Seeming satisfied with conversation, the four continued until they reached the other side of IvyClan territory. Before them was a large open clearing cupped by a mountain.

“We made it here early, so let’s hunt and rest before nightfall.”

Tornears and Amberpaw immediately left, heading around the clearing to a smaller patch of trees, leaving Snaketooth and Ramsonpaw alone at the edge of the IvyClan territory.

“Don’t step on the clearing until nightfall,” Snaketooth said before he sat down and started licking his paw. Not wanting to feel awkward, Ramsonpaw sat and did the same.

Now that they had stopped moving Ramsonpaw became aware of how cold he was with his fur still damp from the river. Annoyed the tom started licking his fur dry.

Snaketooth had lied down, lazily watching birds overhead. It was quite peaceful. Ramsonpaw found himself calming down from the serene setting and wondered if it was because they were so close to StarClan ground.

By the time he was done cleaning his fur Tornears and Amberpaw had returned. Tornears set down a rabbit for herself and Snaketooth while Amberpaw dropped a sparrow beside Ramsonpaw, offering to share.


	12. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I clarified this on tumblr, but Speakers are cats who can speak the language of other animals, and they act as mediators of sorts between the clans and animals like wolves, foxes, bears, birds of prey, etc.. PoppyClan and IceClan are more friendly and accepting of Speakers while NightClan and IvyClan tend to be more suspicious of them.  
> ALSO! I reconned the map. Some locations are flipped. It'll be redone soon

The night brought a different atmosphere to the hill. The ground became a black silhouette against the night sky, which shone beautifully with splashes of deep indigo and speckled patches of starlight. At this point Snaketooth motioned for the group to follow him before leading them across the clearing. He flattened his ears and tapped his tail against the ground twice. ‘Be quiet.’

Amberpaw stayed beside their mentor, feeling both amazed and cautious as they traveled across the clearing. They felt as if at any moment a large bird could sweep down from the blackened sky and snatch them up, but at the same time doubted any bird would be able to see them in the blackness.

When they all made it to the base of an oak tree Snaketooth sat and spoke. “It’s disrespectful to speak in the clearing. You’re free to do so under the oak however.”

Amberpaw could scent the faint smell of another cat in the area. They couldn’t detect it in the clearing but standing closer to the oak it was now undismissable. Strangely, they couldn’t make out what Clan this cat was from, leading them to believe it was a rogue or loner.

“Do other cats come by here?”

“There’s a Speaker that lives over there,” Tornears responded as she gestured East, towards the mountain. “I doubt he’s near. This scent is stale.”

Ramsonpaw flicked his ear. “Non-Clan cats are allowed on StarClan ground?”

“They’re not.” Snaketooth laid down with his paws tucked under his chest. “Algae makes sure to keep his paws off Moonhill. Especially after getting his ears clawed as an apprentice a few years ago.”

“It’s a shame Speakers aren’t teaching their apprentices how to respect our borders,” Tornears mumbled as she settled down beside Snaketooth. “Algae’s only the latest example.”

A moment of silence passed over the group as they settled down and the two mentors spoke to each other quietly. Finally Tornears nodded and sat up.

“Have either of you heard of The Ancients or The Great Cats?”

Amberpaw flicking their tail lightly, thinking of when they’ve ever heard of them. “Addertail brings them up sometimes.”

“Only in passing.”

“Once she snapped at someone for claiming she was acting like an Ancient.”

“Aren’t they larger cats with manes and shadows or suns for pelts?”

Snaketooth looked at his apprentice in amusement while Tornears shook her head. “No. Well, some maybe. The Great Cats are the ones who hold StarClan together. They’re responsible for all life you see.”

Amberpaw blinked and looked around, but the only life they could see were the three other cats with them. There weren’t even any bugs to be heard.

“There are five Great Cats. One of them, the Lion, does have a mane, but not suns for a pelt. They say his pelt shines like the sun though. There’s the Tiger, who is the largest of them all, and he looks like a tabby cat. The Leopard is the oldest and wisest of them, and looks like a golden cat with darker rings.”

Amberpaw tried picturing these cats as their mentor spoke, but it was hard keeping the different thoughts organized.

“Just how big are they?” Ramsonpaw asked.

“Big enough to fit Bearpelt in their mouth like a piece of prey,” Snaketooth responded.

“Bearpelt is the largest cat in the forest,” Tornears explained. “He’s about two heads taller than Boulderclaw.”

Amberpaw flattened their ears. “I hope we never have to fight him.”

Tornears chuckled. “He’s not an antagonizing cat, but is very scary in battle. That long scar on Greypelt’s side was caused by Bearpelt.”

“He only got that scar because he was being careless,” Snaketooth snorted. “He’s was trying to show off in front of Fritillarystar.”

“IceClan cats are naturally heavy and they use that to their advantage,” Tornears said. “We use our legs and our heads. No one can touch you if you’re quick and smart enough.”

Amberpaw nodded, repeating her words to remember them.

She goes on to name and describe the last Great Cats, the Snow Leopard, and Panther. By this point Amberpaw couldn’t match any of the names to any of the appearances and by Ramsonpaw’s frustrated tail flicks, their brother was having the same problem.

“The Great Cats had five Clans of their own, but their Clans were destroyed long before ours came to be. The five residing in StarClan now are what remains of their old Clans.”

“Their belief system was different from ours,” Snaketooth explained. “My guide explained it to me once. In the Old Clans, instead of having a place for every deceased cat to reside, they all became one being.”

Amberpaw flicked their ear. “What?”

“StarClan is where we all go when we die. It’s where we’ll meet all our passed Clanmates again and live in peace. Instead of that being the case, image that StarClan is the culmination of every cat who’s ever lived. There’s only one cat in StarClan, and that one cat is every cat.”

Tornear’s whiskers twitched. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“I don’t like that,” Ramsonpaw meowed quietly.

Amberpaw nodded in agreement, feeling uneasy at the thought. They couldn’t even imagine becoming someone else. Would they hear everyone’s thoughts as their own? Would their own identity be lost in the collective? Would they cease to exist in a way? What would happen if they had a thought that everyone else was against?

“Of course, that’s not our StarClan. That’s what The Great Cats are. They’re very powerful beings who created all life in this forest. No one cat could be responsible for all that.”

Amberpaw hummed in acknowledgement, still uneased by the idea. Tornears ‘huh’ed and continued.

“A friend of mine once told me a myth in IvyClan of when a cat received a prophecy from The Lion. I guess they delve more into The Great Cats with their mythology than us, but you’ll have to hear those stories from them. Now, unlike The Great Cats, The Ancients have only ever existed in StarClan. They’re five cats larger than us, but smaller than The Great Cats. They interact with StarClan fairly regularly, from what I’ve heard.”

Snaketooth nodded. “I’ve never seen one but my guide has.”

Tornears nodded before going on to name and describe the Lynx, Ocelot, Serval, and Caracal. By this point Amberpaw wasn’t even trying to remember them and only understanding that they were important to Clan religion.

“When the Clans were first founded there was no StarClan. The Great Cats existed but they had created no place for any cat’s soul, so when cats died they were left to be confided to the earth. Since this takes place before the Quarry incident, it’s likely that it takes a tragic event in order for a cat to become a monster, and the conditions at this time meant cats simply faded away after they died.”

“Featherstream was an IceClan cat with beautiful grey and white fur. He was a young warrior who always wanted more from his life. It was one night when in a dream he was visited by a Serval, who told him he needed to become the first medicine cat, and that it was important for him to do so. Without any other explanation the Serval taught him how to heal with herbs and perform ceremonies that would allow a cat’s soul to enter a new afterlife.”

“By the next Greenleaf he was made the Clans’ first medicine cat, and was renamed Feathermoon due to his strong connection to The Ancients. His leader at the time thought it would be best to remain a secret, in order to benefit IceClan. Feathermoon disagreed with this, but went along with it out of fear of being banished. He did end up telling some friends from other Clans a few moons later, having them promise to keep the information hidden. One of these cats, an IvyClan warrior named Marshface, didn’t trust IceClan and betrayed Feathermoon by telling his leader about the southern Clan having an advantage. Worried and paranoid about IceClan attacking them, the IvyClan leader struck first. They planned on killing Feathermoon during a raid, but only created a war between the two Clans.”

“It was during one of these battles that Marshface ended up losing his life. Feathermoon stood up against his leader and demanded to let the other Clans know about his gift, and for several arguments he continued to refuse.”

“After a particularly harsh Leafbare saw to it that the leader lost his life, the new IceClan leader promised to make things right and share the information. At the next gathering they apologized to IvyClan, shared the news of Feathermoon being a medicine cat, and allowed him to train someone from each of the other Clans about herbs and the ceremonies. From that moment on, there was always someone there to look after their injured Clanmates, and make sure cats who’ve died found their way to StarClan.”

Tornears glanced at Ramsonpaw as she said that, purring softly. “Our story about the founding of StarClan is tied closely to our first medicine cat. It was thanks to Feathermoon that there’s a place for all our lost family.” She then met Amberpaw’s eyes. “This is for both of you however. Amberpaw, it’s not likely you’ll dream about StarClan here, nor will you ever, but it’s important to know.”

Snaketooth yawned and flicked his tail. “We’re staying the night here, so get some rest. Don’t worry about being attacked by anything.” They both nodded. “You’ll be meeting your guide tonight,” Snaketooth said as he addressed Ramsonpaw. “But it’s likely you’ve already met them, the day we discovered the coyote scent.”

“Okay.” Ramsonpaw laid his head on his paws but kept looking between the clearing and the mountain peak. Amberpaw, feeling completely comfortable despite being in a new area, rested their chin on their brother’s shoulders.

They hoped they dreamed about StarClan. It was a wild fantasy but they imagined meeting Smokestar. The thought of the ancient leader still caused their chest to buzz with wonder and inspiration. They really did want to meet her, even if they only saw her in passing, a sleek black pelt disappearing into the shrubbery, or a respectful comment as they walked by without any other intention of conversation.

It wasn’t long before they fell asleep, head swimming with imaginary outcomes.

The next thing they knew, they were waking up to the sound of songbirds and a brightening landscape.

* * *

 


	13. Chapter 10

Amberpaw jumped over Fangpaw as the silver torbie lunged at them. They semi-ran over the other apprentices back, nearly stumbling, until they found solid footing on the ground and heard Fangpaw’s heavy landing in the dust behind them.

“They’re not heavy enough to use brute force like you. What have you been teaching them?” Tornears snarked as she nudged Boulderclaw. The tom hummed, looking unemotive.

“Speed isn’t everything. They need to hit hard too,” he responded.

“Striking the right balance is always good,” Ruffledpelt agreed with a smile in her voice.

Amberpaw’s paws were suddenly kicked from under them and they landed hard of their jaw. A sharp pain shot through their skull and they had to take a moment to come out of a daze.

“Ha!” Fangpaw exclaimed.

Amberpaw shook themself and jumped to their paws. “That was a cheep shot!”

“Don’t get distracted then.”

“How can I when they keep talking?”

“Tune them out.”

“I can’t!”

“Okay Amberpaw, take a deep breath,” Tornears said.

They stilled and sighed heavily. Through the ache in their jaw they felt Tornears brush by their side before she meowed gently. “We’ll be quiet from now on and it’ll get easier over time. Come sit by me and we can analyze how Fangpaw and Logpaw fight. Sound good?”

They swallowed and nodded. They were still frustrated at themself but were glad to be away from fighting for a bit. Tornears lead them back towards the other two mentors as Logpaw hopped down from the rock and ran towards her sibling.

The two began circling each other, staying low to the ground, studying each other’s movements, before Fangpaw dashed around them and batted at Logpaw’s side. The lilac tortie reared up and tried to wrap her paws around her littermate’s head, with bared teeth and sheathed claws.

Fangpaw ducked and quickly backed out of the way. They ran across the dust patch and leaped onto a boulder as Logpaw followed close behind. Instead of staying on the higher ground, Fangpaw kicked backwards off the boulder, flipping mid-air to land on their littermate and sending them both rolling in the dirt.

Amberpaw lost track of who had the upper paw until Fangpaw ended up on top and pinned Logpaw down. Logpaw lashed her tail before she rolled onto her stomach, knocking Fangpaw off balance.

The two continued to fight, both using their environment to their advantage. While Amberpaw tried focusing and studying what they were both doing, they found themselves getting distracted by little things such as tail flicks and murmurs from the other mentors, distant bird calls, and beams of sunlight streaming through the branches and stones.

Amberpaw shook their head. They needed to focus on the fight. They watched as the two continued to battle, but once again got distracted by a shiny black beetle crawling in the dirt in front of them.

“I win,” Logpaw huffed from where she had Fangpaw held down, using her stronger body to keep the lithe silver torbie down. Fangpaw kicked from under her a few times but couldn’t budge the smaller cat.

“Alright alright, I give! You win!”

Logpaw let her sibling up, looking smug. Fangpaw huffed and playfully batted at her ears.

“Nice job, Logpaw,” Ruffledpelt said.

Boulderclaw nodded, remaining as stone-faced as ever.

“Are you ready to try again?” Tornears asked Amberpaw. They watched as Fangpaw shook the dust from their fur before giving Logpaw a lighthearted smile. The lilac tortie only blinked.

Their jaw still ached.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

“Why doesn’t he try fighting Logpaw this time?” Ruffledpelt suggested to Tornears.

Amberpaw flicked their ear, feeling put-off. But, they hadn’t told anyone but Ramsonpaw about not being a tom yet, so they couldn’t blame them.

“I don’t see why not.”

They didn’t know why they were so nervous about it either. The Clan had readily accepted Fangpaw, and Snaketooth long before they were born. Still, the idea of telling them something as important as that made their heart race. They took a breath.

“I’m up for it!”

They ran up to Logpaw as Fangpaw took a seat by their mentor.

Logpaw crouched. “I’m not going easy on you because you’re younger than me,” she said.

Amberpaw flicked their tail and mirrored Logpaw. “I don’t need you to.” They kept their eyes on Logpaw’s paws, trying to see around the clearing with their peripheral vision. Before Logpaw had a chance to attack, Amberpaw turned and raced towards the shrubs.

“Hey!”

They couldn’t see the other apprentice as they wove into the shrubs. They stilled once under cover and looked back to see Logpaw standing and eyeing the shrub they disappeared into. This was where they could use their pelt to their advantage.

As quietly as they could, they circled around the clearing. Logpaw must have caught on to what they were doing, because she stilled and angled her ears, trying to pick up on the younger cat’s location.

Fangpaw murmured something to Boulderclaw, catching Amberpaw’s attention. They shook their head and tried to ignore them and focus on Logpaw again.

Once they were behind her, they slipped out of the shrubs and crept towards her. A twig signaled the end of this endeavor. Logpaw whirled around, but Amberpaw was already leaping onto her shoulders. The momentum knocked them both off balance, with Amberpaw barely managing to stand on top of her.

They weren’t able to pin the paler colored apprentice however and she easily managed to roll over and wrap her paws around their neck before flipping them both so she was on top. She placed a paw on their stomach, making it slightly harder for them to breathe, and pushed down the more they struggled.

Amberpaw hissed and tried batting at her face but she leaned away from their paws with flattened ears, nearly sitting on them in the process.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Tornears called.

Logpaw jumped off them and Amberpaw immediately rolled over and took a heavy breath. They flattened their ears, feeling their pelt grow hot with shame.

“Sorry, that was a bit rough,” Logpaw said.

Amberpaw lashed their tail. “A bit!”

“Calm down.” Tornears was beside them again. “Fangpaw and Logpaw are nearly warriors, and you’re still in your first moon of training. You shouldn’t beat yourself up for loosing to them.”

“You almost beat me,” Fangpaw said as they pranced towards the group.

“Yeah! And that was smart what you did,” Ruffledpelt added. “Use your surrounding to your advantage, and you’ll get better and better the more you train.”

Amberpaw sighed and stood. “Sorry for snapping.”

Logpaw flicked their nose with her tail. “I’m not offended. I bit Ruffledpelt the first time I went to battle training.”

Ruffledpelt sighed. “I still have a nick on my pad from that.” She held a paw close to her chest, making her voice sound sorrowful as if mourning the event.

Amberpaw smiled, feeling the anger in their chest dissipate.

“I think we’re done with battle training for the day,” Tornears meowed and looked at the other two mentors for confirmation.

“Yeah. I’m ready to eat,” Ruffledpelt said while Boulderclaw nodded.

Tornears waved her tail for Amberpaw to follow and the group started heading back to camp. Fangpaw and Logpaw fell in step beside them.

“We’re having a rematch when we’re all fully trained,” Fangpaw declared.

Amberpaw blinked as their mind froze, unable to think up a response.

“Why are you so sure of that?” Logpaw asked. She kept her expression and posture neutral, but there was a hint of amusement in her voice.

“Because I said so.” Amberpaw blinked again, angling their ears sideways. They weren’t used to speaking with these two, having spend most of their time as a kit with Ramsonpaw, Hollypaw, Addertail, or Greypelt. As far as they were able to remember, Fangpaw and Logpaw never seemed interested in them and their brother, and they never saw a reason to pursue any kind of relationship with them either.

“That won’t happen until leafbare or newleaf,” Amberpaw pointed out. “But sure.”

Fangpaw nodded, content and confident. Amberpaw flicked their tail, not knowing what to think.

They skidded to a stop before they ran into Ruffledpelt. Glancing up, they saw the three mentors has stopped and were all facing different directions as they scented the air. Cautious, Amberpaw lifted their head and sniffed the air.

There was a scent they couldn’t quite place, but it seemed to put everyone else on edge.

“What is that?” They asked quietly.

“Coyote,” Logpaw said.

Amberpaw felt their fur stand on end. They lowered themself to the ground, trying to locate the unseen enemy. It’s scent was everywhere.

The mentors looked at each other before Boulderclaw spoke.

“We may be dealing with a pack.”

Tornears nodded. “Let’s get back to camp. We’ll tell Chervillight and she can organize an appropriate patrol.”


	14. Chapter 11

Ramsonpaw watched as Chervillight organized a patrol consisting of Boulderclaw, Fangpaw, Palestripe, and Hollypaw, Thornfang, and Monarchwing. Before they left camp Herbstar ran down from the ledge where her den is and joined them with a short explanation.

Amberpaw, who had been pacing beside their mentor, deflated. Out of relief or disappointment, Ramsonpaw couldn’t tell. Tornears started talking to them, so Ramsonpaw stayed where he sat.

He felt Snaketooth wave his tail over his ears. “Let’s go. We have some old leaves that need throwing out,” he said in a gruff tone.

Ramsonpaw stood and followed his mentor into the medicine cat den, a crevice in the ravine wall. It was beneath a ledge where the stone floor became dirt and grass has managed to grow.

Inside, Snaketooth started sniffing through the different bundles of herbs along the back wall and pulling a few out.

As he separated the good herbs from the dead ones he pushed them to the side. With a twitch of his whiskers he motioned with his tail for Ramsonpaw to help. The black and white apprentice padded the rest of the way into the den and sat beside his mentor.

“Sort through the chamomile and goldenseal,” he said with a flick of his tail towards the two herbs, before he started nosing through some roots Ramsonpaw couldn’t name.

Ramsonpaw ducked his head and started moving the flowers around with his nose before finding the bad ones and pulling them away from the group. By the time he had two separate piles of chamomile, Snaketooth had already gone through three piles.

“How are you so fast?” He asked, exasperated.

Snaketooth flicked his ear and gave Ramsonpaw an odd look. “I’ve been doing this longer than you.”

Ramsonpaw huffed, feeling bad but not able to place why, and turned towards the goldenseal.

“Excuse me, Snaketooth?”

The two medicine cats looked up as Tornears pushed her way into the den. “Have you seen Greypelt anywhere? No one in camp knows where he is.”

Snaketooth sighed and flattened his ears. “He probably went for his walk. That stupid old bat.”

“Should we go find him?” Amberpaw asked. They had bagan walking into the den, but had stopped half way in and dropped onto their stomach in order to see past their mentor without crowding the den.

Snaketooth went back to sorting herbs. “Greypelt will be fine. He never walks very far and we already have a patrol searching for the coyotes.”

“But what if--”

The tabby casted Amberpaw a sharp look. “I once saw Greypelt wrestle three badgers with a bad leg and win. He’s old now, but he’s still capable of fighting, or smelling the danger and running.”

“Knowing him he’d run towards it,” Tornears murmured. She turned towards Amberpaw. “Don’t talk back, it’s rude. But, let’s get Ruffledpelt and Logpaw to help us look for him.”

Snaketooth scoffed, but the two ignored him and left the den. Ramsonpaw flicked his ear, wanting to spend more time with his sibling. With a small sigh he went back to helping Snaketooth.

In the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but worry for his sibling’s safety. They had other cats with them, but that wasn’t a guarantee that they were going to be safe. At any moment out there a coyote could ambush the patrol and attack Amberpaw first. Or they could be surrounded or chased into a corner. Ramsonpaw had to shake himself and focus on his job instead of all the ways this day could go wrong.

\--

A couple hours before dusk the two medicine cats had gathered all the dead leaves and carried them out of camp to leave them to decompose. Snaketooth flicked Ramsonpaw’s snout with his tail before going too far from the ravine.

“Let’s go back now. We don’t want to have a run-in with the coyotes.”

Ramsonpaw nodded and started following his mentor back. He kept his ears angled to the forest, hoping for at any moment Tornears’ patrol would appear. Within moments he heard pawsteps against a rock.

Sparrowfoot was the first to appear. The spotted tom blinked in surprise seeing the medicine cats. “We found Greypelt,” he meowed before sliding down the boulder and padding towards them.

Snaketooth’s tail swayed gently, waiting patiently as the rest of the patrol appeared with Greypelt following. The old grey tom was favouring his right forepaw as he bounded across a boulder and jumped onto solid ground beside the patrol.

With a sigh Snaketooth padded towards the elder and cuffed his ears with a paw. The grey tom crouched with flattened ears and a lashing tail, but didn’t say anything.

“Next time, at least tell someone where you’re going!” The medicine cat snapped. “I don’t want anyone dragging your bloody pelt back to camp because you were too thick-skulled to do the reasonable thing.”

Ramsonpaw slid towards Amberpaw and Tornears. “Is this okay? At least Greypelt is safe. I don’t think he deserves to be reprimanded.”

Tornears hummed and flicked her tail. “I try to stay out of Snaketooth’s way. He has a habit of doing this, even with Herbstar sometimes.”

Amberpaw smiled at Ramsonpaw. “I was the one who found him!”

Ramsonpaw’s ears perked. “Really? That’s neat!”

Amberpaw nodded, looking proud of themself. “He was limping around a clearing. Said he was trying to catch a squirrel and his paw got caught under a root.”

Ramsonpaw looked back at his mentor who at least wasn’t hissing anymore. He wondered if he had the authority to speak to Snaketooth as an equal, and get him to take care of the elder’s paw instead of reprimanding him.

He decided he didn’t.

Greypelt sighed. “Fine, fine, I get it. I’ll let the Clan know before I go on another walk again.”

Snaketooth paused before he turned away. “Okay.” He started walking. “Let’s get you back to camp so I can see your paw.”

Ramsonpaw decided to walk by Amberpaw instead of his mentor. As they headed back to the ravine, Ramsonpaw allowed himself to relax knowing Amberpaw was safe again. The black apprentice was hopping on their paws, talking about their day. Tornears stayed out of the siblings’ conversation, but had a small smile on her face.

* * *

 


	15. Chapter 12

Pondtail was lying behind a heather, purring and flicking their tail every once in a while as Risingwing lazily licked their ears and Bristletail batted at their tail every time it flicked.

“Maggie told me she caught a chicken last moon,” Risingwind suddenly said.

Pondtail blinked, slowly flattening their ears as they tried to place why she suddenly brought that up. “Good for her.”

Risingwind nodded. “I’ve never had chicken.”

“When I was a kittypet the house next to mine had a chicken,” Bristletail said. “It was mean and tried to attack me every time I got near it.”

Pondtail tilted their head. “You were a kittypet?”

“I’ve never intentionally kept that a secret,” Bristletail meowed. “I’m surprised you didn’t know that.”

Pondtail looked at their paws, unsure. “Maybe. I don’t remember.”

For so long Pondtail considered Bristletail their brother. They’ve practically been inseparable ever since he saved their life at the abandoned train yard. What did it mean if they didn’t know simple facts about his past? Did Bristletail know more about them than they did about him? What did that mean?

Risingwind stretched and yawned widely.

The three looked up as Goosewhisker padded out of Cloudstar’s den. The spotted grey tabby was instantly surrounded by two lilac tabby kits. The third kit, a fawn tabby, stayed near their mother Teaselfeather.

“Goosewhisker! Mama was telling us about when you fought a fox!” Dawnkit squeaked.

“Was it really as big as a dog?” Leafkit asked.

The deputy chuckled and crouched to be at eye level with the two. “That’s true, but foxes are only slightly bigger than us.” There was amusement clear in his voice. “And foxes are cowards. They’ll scrounge for scraps and run as soon as we show up.”

Risingwind flicked her tail. “I knew a fox.”

“You did?” Pondtail was once again amazed by how quickly Risingwind jumped onto conversation topics.

She nodded. “His name was Flame Foot. Said he was on a journey to find a long lost friend. I wished him well and he left the next morning.”

“Are there any other strange animals you’ve met?”

The cream molly thought for a moment. “I’ll let you know.”

“Am I the only one with a working memory?” Bristletail joked. Risingwind kicked him.

Pondtail felt a fly land on their nose, causing them to sneeze. Goosewhisker looked up, now aware of their location, and began padding towards them. Pondtail inwardly groaned. Bristletail outwardly groaned.

“I hope he doesn’t send us on another patrol. I’m sick of patrols.”

They quieted as the deputy stopped in front of them. “Gathering’s tonight. You three are coming.” Without another word he turned and padded away.

There was a moment of silence before,

“Oh thank StarClan.”

“If we were assigned to yet another patrol I was going to bite him.”

“That’s excessive.”

Risingwind rested her head on her paws. “No, it’s perfectly reasonable.”

Pondtail watched her before they decided not to question her reasoning and went back to enjoying the sun with their two favourite cats.

\--

Cloudstar, Goosewhisker, and Crowfrost were waiting for the rest of the cats at the center of camp.

“I’m excited to see Tornears again,” Risingwind said optimistically.

Pondtail had never felt comfortable at gatherings. There were always so many cats and all the different conversations made it difficult to hear anything.

“I want to have another climbing match with Jayleap,” Bristletail said as he dug his claws into the grass.

Comfreypond pushed her way out of the medicine den and padded towards the group. “Shadepaw has a stomach ache, so we’re going to stay.”

Cloudstar nodded. “I wish him well.”

“Thank you.” The molly turned and padded back towards her shared den.

“If that’s everyone let’s go,” Cloudstar said before standing and turning to leave.

The group set off, heading across the meadow. The leader, deputy, and senior medicine cat leading, with Fogflight, Blackheart, Cootpaw, and Mosspaw following. Pondtail, Bristletail, and Risingwind stayed in the back, keeping to their own conversations.

As they traveled however, Pondtail noticed Cloudstar and Goosewhisker speaking quietly to each other. Whenever Mosspaw tried to grab Goosewhiskers attention, the deputy barely responded before turning towards Cloudstar again.

Normally they wouldn’t question them, but their secrecy gave them a bad feeling. They’ve been acting strange ever since they told them about the rogue scent.

Pondtail ducked their head, speaking quietly. “Cloudstar and Goosewhisker are planning something.”

Risingwind flicked her ear, eyeing the two. “They’re weird. It’s nothing to worry about.”

The cream-silver cat deflated slightly, doubting their intuition. “I just have a bad feeling about them.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open,” Bristletail meowed. “And tell you if I see anything suspicious.”

Pondtail nodded. “Thank you.”

Bristletail lightly shouldered them. “No problem, Pond.”

Risingwind hummed, and Pondtail could see she still didn’t believe them. “Guess I’ll tell you too.”

“Thank you.”

\--

They traveled along the river until they reached the slope leading to the gathering place. As they arrived so did Herbstar with her Clan.

“Hello, Cloudstar,” she said politely and dipped her head.

The grey and white tom flicked his tail tensely. “Herbstar.”

Pondtail couldn’t read their expressions from where they stood. They shared a few quick words until Herbstar stepped back with an offer for PoppyClan to go first. Cloudstar took it without much word and lead his Clan up.

Pondtail kept their head low, feeling heavy-pawed as they passed. Risingwind had somehow already broken away from her friends and was happily chatting with two NightClan cats. Pondtail paused, wondering if they should wait for her to finish or catch up.

Bristletail pushed them forward. “She’s a lost cause.”

In the clearing they could see IceClan had already arrived, and were happy to mingle with Pondtail’s lankier Clanmates. Wideeyes, the IceClan medicine cat perked from the tree branch he was on, and climbed down in order to greet Crowfrost. Similar to her medicine cat, Rosestar smiled and signed to Cloudstar to sit by her. The grey and white tom took up her offer after another quick word with Goosewhisker.

Pondtail let out a breath and followed Bristletail toward the larger group of cats.


	16. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Descriptions of injury, death mention

“Tornears, can I tell you something?” Amberpaw asked as they headed towards the gathering.

The red molly turned her gaze towards her apprentice, ears pricked with interest. Despite knowing what her reaction will be, Amberpaw still felt their heart race.

‘Just get it over with. The sooner the better. She’ll understand.’

They took a breath and opened their mouth to explain, but could only make strangled noises before they sighed and looked away. “Sorry.”

“It’s no problem. Take all the time you need.”

They nodded and went quiet for several moments, repeating and rephrasing what to say, before trying again.

“I don’t think I’m a tom.”

“Okay,” Tornears said. “What do you think you are?”

“I don’t know yet.” Amberpaw paused, wondering if saying that would make them less believable. “But I’m trying to figure it out! I don’t know what feels right yet so I’m… experimenting?”

“That’s fine,” Tornears said. “I’ll tell you what Sparrowfoot told Fangpaw, since he’s more eloquent than I am. ‘Focus on being you, and whoever you are, I’ll support. You don’t need to figure yourself out right now because knowing yourself should be a journey.’ I’ll still be here to listen when you figure it out.”

Amberpaw felt like an invisible boulder was taken off their shoulders. They felt lighter on their paws and unbelievably happy.

“Thank you!” They affectionately headbutted Tornears’ shoulder. She chuckled and licked their ear.

“Anytime, Amberpaw.”

\--

Amberpaw ended up sitting by Fangpaw, Logpaw, Flintpaw, and some apprentices from the other Clans. There were two PoppyClan apprentices: Mosspaw, a black spotted tabby tom, and his sister Cootpaw, a solid black molly. Next to them were Redpaw and Roachpaw, being a red classic tabby molly and a black molly from IvyClan.

They were still amazed by how different the other Clans were. PoppyClan cats were long legged like their own Clanmates, but they had longer tails and larger ears. IvyClan cats were short, with the tallest of them being shorter than them. Amberpaw had seen them before but it still amazed them how everyone in that Clan was the size of small apprentices.

But out of all of them, they were the most fascinated by IceClan. None of the IceClan apprentices were sitting by them, and they couldn’t tell which of them were apprentices due to them being the same size as the rest of their Clanmates, if only slightly smaller. Most of the IceClan cats were larger than them, with thick-furred pelts that made Amberpaw feel overheated by just looking at them.

“Greypelt didn’t come this time?” Roachpaw asked.

Logpaw shook her head. “He twisted his paw so he has to rest for the next few days.”

“That’s too bad. He’s funny,” Redpaw said.

“You should have seen him. He nearly knocked Chervillight over to prove he was still capable of using his leg,” Fangpaw said. “Then Snaketooth bit his ear and Herbstar had him stay in the elder’s den until we get back.”

Mosspaw’s eyes shone in amusement and he made a comment but Amberpaw tuned them out, lost in their own thoughts.

They wondered if it was the right time to tell the whole Clan about being trans, or if they wanted to be completely certain of who they were before telling everyone. It wouldn’t hurt either way, and they were certain they’d be met with the same love and support that Ramsonpaw and Tornears had given them. They tried to play each scenario in their head. Would anyone think differently of them is they had to re-explain themself twice? Or three times?

“Leave him be, he’ll snap out of it.”

Amberpaw flattened their ears. “Don’t call me that.”

The other apprentices gave them confused looks, except Logpaw and Cootpaw who only stared at them blankly. Fangpaw’s confused look slowly morphed into one of understanding.

“Sure thing, Amber,” Fangpaw meowed. “Hey, this is the last moon of Leaffall. We’re lucky prey hasn’t gotten scarce yet.”

“Lucky you. Our frogs and reptiles have started hibernating,” Mosspaw said grumpily.

Amberpaw flicked their ear. They had hardly noticed it getting colder, but now that they focused on it, there was a chill that night, and their paws were cold. They crouched and tucked their paws under their chest.

Their brother’s black and white pelt caught their eye. Ramsonpaw was sitting beside Snaketooth and the other medicine cats. He seemed to be managing the crowd alright. They turned their eyes to the boulder where Herbstar sat with the other leaders. Herbstar was sitting with her paws under her chest and eyes closed. Cloudstar was licking his paw with an unreadable expression, and Rosestar and Tanglestar were signing to each other too quickly for Amberpaw to understand.

They looked around the clearing, at all the different cats they couldn’t name. Earlier they had saw who they assumed was Bearpelt, knowing the IceClan deputy was the largest cat in the forest. The cat they saw was massive with a scarred pelt and paws that could easily crush them. Bearpelt wasn’t aggressive though, and was calmly chatting with a group of PoppyClan cats.

Rosestar was the one to stand and make various movements with her tail, paws, and ears, signaling for the crowd to quiet down.

‘May I go first,’ she asked the others, who all gave her nods or nonresponses.

‘Cloverpelt has become a warrior this moon.’ She paused and smiled warmly as the gathering cheered Cloverpelt’s name.

“Cloverpelt! Cloverpelt!” Amberpaw joined in the cheering while trying to spot the IceClan warrior, but couldn’t place who the cat could be.

‘Wideeyes also had a sign that IceClan will do well this Leafbare,' she continued after the cheering died down.

She raised her tail to Tanglestar with an expectant look, and sat after the small ruddy leader stood up and faced the clearing.

“My amazing, talented, beautiful mate, Sapheart is expecting kits!”

“Congratulations,” Herbstar meowed.

‘Kits are always a blessing, especially after the scarcity in kits the last few seasons,’ Rosestar added.

Cloudstar nodded. “I wish your kits well, Tanglestar.”

The ruddy leader beamed and sat again.

Herbstar and Cloudstar met eyes before Herbstar stood. “We have two new apprentices, a warrior apprentice, and a medicine cat apprentice: Amberpaw and Ramsonpaw.”

Amberpaw felt a burst of pride as cats cheered their name. Knowing eyes would be on them, they raised their head proudly, unable to keep themself from smiling.

As the cheering died down Herbstar continued. “We’ve also scented a coyote in our territory, and think it may be a pack. We haven’t found them yet, so please be on the lookout and stay safe.”

Her eyes met Cloudstar’s again, and with a respectful nod she sat down. The grey and white tom stood next.

“PoppyClan also has a new apprentice: Shadepaw!” He raised his tail as the cats started cheering. “However, he had a stomach ache so his mother kept him at camp.” The crowd’s yells died into awkward mumbled. Cloudstar swept his gaze over the clearing as if analyzing something, before he spoke again. “We’ve also found a strange scent in our territory, a rogue. They were traveling through the meadow, and my warriors stopped tracking their scent at the border of NightClan.”

Amberpaw’s ears flattened. There was a rogue in their territory too? Fangpaw shifted beside them. They looked up at the silver, black, and red apprentice, who’s posture and expression Amberpaw couldn’t read, but knew it wasn’t good, especially considering how impulsive the cat was.

Herbstar’s tail swayed gently. “Is that so? I’ll have my warriors keep their eyes and ears open.”

Cloudstar nodded. “One more thing, Herbstar.” His gaze turned sharp. Herbstar remained sitting calmly, but her eyes narrowed.

“Yes?”

“Crowfrost received a sign of a shadow extending from your Clan, blocking out the sky and bringing death with it.”

Herbstar looked away from him, lashing her tail.

“All the prey vanished. Cats were suffocating and dying. Wounds would appear at random and patrols would come home with nothing but bloody corpses. You’re going to let it happen again, aren’t you?”

With a hiss Herbstar jumped off the rock. “That’s enough! Gathering’s over!”

Amberpaw stood, concerned. “What does he mean by that?” they asked the other apprentices.

Flintpaw shook his head. Cootpaw kept her eyes on her leader, angling her ears sideways.

“I don’t know,” Roachpaw meowed. She stood and stretched. “See you around guys.”

“Bye!” Fangpaw meowed.

The two tortie siblings stood to leave. Amberpaw and Flintpaw followed them, until Amberpaw spotted their brother still sitting with the medicine cats. He looked nervous as Snaketooth spoke harshly to a lanky smoky black tabby. Amberpaw figured that was Crowfrost.

They decided to sit and wait for them.

“Hello.” They blinked and noticed an IceClan cat had approached them, a pale grey molly.

“Hi.”

“Do you know what Cloudstar was talking about? What Herbstar did?”

Amberpaw flattened their ears. “I don’t. Herbstar’s a good leader though, I don’t think Cloudstar should have accused her like that.”

The cat tilted her head with a hum. “I'm Ashenpaw."

"Amberpaw."

She nodded. "Anyway, I’ll see you around. Bye, Amberpaw.”

They watched the molly leave in confusion.

Another cat brushed past them and they jumped only to see it was Ramsonpaw. “Thanks for waiting.”

Amberpaw nodded. “No problem.”


	17. Chapter 14

The sparrow hopped around on the stones and gnarled roots. Amberpaw kept low to the ground, and slowly crept forward. They made sure to use the wet ground to their advantage, blending in with their black pelt.

They readied their muscles, leaped onto the root, and easily caught the small bird.

“Nice catch,” Hollypaw meowed. She set her mouse down. “Put it here, we can come back after we catch more.”

Amberpaw set the sparrow down in the grass beside her mouse. They turned to Hollypaw, but she was already padding away towards the river. Amberpaw flicked their tail and headed Northeast.

As they headed through the forest they wondered where Tornears and Palestripe were. They were trying to stay in the same area but somehow got separated after everyone went after their own prey. They paused as they heard the river.

Raising their head and scenting the air, Amberpaw found a squirrel’s trail. It smelled recent.

Crouching, Amberpaw padded forward, weaving around stones and staying on the blackened earth. Finally they spotted the squirrel on a low branch of a tree. Amberpaw exhaled, knowing they’ve never tried hunting in a tree before.

‘I can do it,’ they thought and crept towards the tree. They stayed out of the squirrel’s view as they started climbing up the bark.

The squirrel was facing away from the trunk, nibbling on an acorn it must have stored away. Amberpaw stepped onto the branch and started making their way towards the furry grey animal. They paused before lunging, wondering how best to go about it. They didn’t want to fall.

Taking another slow step, they felt the branch dip. The squirrel jolted, staying still on the swaying branch, until it turned and saw the cat crying to catch it.

The squirrel turned and leaped towards another branch of the tree.

‘I’m not letting you get away!’

Amberpaw leaped after it, catching it in their mouth mid air. There was a moment of panic where they were suspended mid-air, before their paws landed heavily on the ground beneath the tree.

The squirrel was still in their jaws. They set it down feeling proud they managed to catch it, but wanted a better technique next time they hunted in a tree. Amberpaw picked up the squirrel, figuring they should find Tornears now.

They followed their trail back, and barely caught their mentor’s scent over the squirrel in their mouth.

Tornears was stalking a vole which had burrowed near the base of a boulder. Amberpaw stilled and watched her creep up on the rodent before lunging at it and killing it with a quick bite.

Amberpaw padded out of their hiding spot. “Nice catch!”

She jumped before she spun around and saw them. With a softer gaze she set her vole down. “Thank you. Good job catching a squirrel.”

“Thnks.”

Palestripe padded into the clearing followed by Hollypaw, who was carrying a mouse and sparrow.

She gave Amberpaw a sharp look. They ducked their head. “Sorry, I forgot.”

The fluffy black apprentice rolled her eyes and set the sparrow by their paws.

“Let’s grab the rest of our kills and head back to the ravine,” Palestripe said. “With the other patrols this should be enough.”

\--

They retrieved every piece of prey they caught and carried them back to camp. Amberpaw found it hard to leap onto the ledge at the camp entrance with the squirrel swaying heavily against their forelegs. Monarchwing was guardian the ravine as they entered. The red molly gave them all a friendly greeting before turning towards the forest again.

After Amberpaw set their two catches in the prey pile Boulderclaw entered camp, followed by Sparrowfoot, Fangpaw, Flintpaw, and Thornfang, each with something in their mouth.

Upon seeing Amberpaw, Fangpaw ran towards they prey pile and set their mouse down. “I have an idea! But I can’t tell you now, Boulderclaw wants me to go to battle training in a moment.”

Amberpaw flicked their ear. “Okay. When do you want to tell me then?”

“Um.” Fangpaw thought for a moment. “Before dusk, after all our duties are done. Meet me and the others in the apprentice den.”

Without another word they turned and ran off.

Amberpaw sat, wondering what they could possibly want. They turned as they heard pawsteps behind them.

Snaketooth and Ramsonpaw had just exited the medicine den, covered in various leaves. Amberpaw stood and padded toward their brother.

“Are you busy?” They asked.

Ramsonpaw set down a bundle of leaves, gagging a bit at the taste. “I have to help Snaketooth check on Greypelt’s leg, then I’ll be done. Why?”

“I wanted to hang out. We haven’t played together since becoming apprentices.”

Ramsonpaw’s eyes brightened. “Yeah.” He looked towards Snaketooth, who was waiting patiently a few paces away. “See you in a bit,” he meowed softly before picking up the herb bundle and following Snaketooth.

\--

They ended up batting a mossball between each other as they chatted about how their training’s been going.

“--And Snaketooth want to speak to Salamanderstar next time we go to Moonhill.”

Amberpaw flicked their ear. “Who’s Salamanderstar?”

“Snaketooth’s guide, like how my guide is Torrenttail.”

Amberpaw nodded, and absentmindedly hit the mossball too far to the side. Ramsonpaw had to jump up to catch it and knock it back towards Amberpaw.

“Have you ever met any cats from those stories?” Amberpaw asked.

Ramsonpaw hummed as he thought. “No, I don’t think so. I’ve only met Torrenttail, and a older NightClan cat named Spiderfang. Apparently Chervillight had brothers.”

Amberpaw batted the mossball back, waving their tail over the ravine floor. “I think it’s neat what you can do.”

“Talk to StarClan?” Ramsonpaw looked away bashfully. “I don’t know. It is, pretty cool. Why’d you want to know about who I’ve met?”

Amberpaw huffed as the mossball crumbled when they tried to bat it back. “There’s a cat I want to meet.”

Ramsonpaw smiled. “Is it Smokestar?”

Amberpaw choked a bit. “Uh, yeah.”

Their brother nodded smugly. “Figured. You keep mentioning her.”

They lashed their tail, feeling embarrassed. “There’s nothing wrong with that. She was a very respectable leader and I look up to her a lot.”

“I wasn’t saying it was a bad thing,” Ramsonpaw clarified. “I’ll see if I can find her next time I dream or go to Moonhill.”

Amberpaw was about to respond when there was a ruckus at the ravine entrance. There were several voices over each other, as Boulderclaw and Fangpaw returned with Ruffledpelt and Logpaw. Fangpaw’s eyes met Amberpaw’s and they smiled brightly before being pulled into a conversation with their mentor.

“Fangpaw wants to talk to me and the other apprentices about something,” Amberpaw said. “Do you want to come?”

Ramsonpaw seemed to deflate as he looked at the silver apprentice. “No, that’s fine. Snaketooth probably… wants me for something. You have fun.”

“Oh. Okay.”

Ramsonpaw stood and quickly headed towards the medicine den. Amberpaw stared after him before they sighed and stood up. It was almost dusk now. They stretched then padded into the apprentice den.


	18. Chapter 15

“Thank you all for gathering here tonight,” Fangpaw said dramatically. “I’ve called you all here to discuss the recent events concerning coyotes and rogues.”

“I had a feeling,” Flintpaw said dryly. Fangpaw shushed him with a bat of their tail against his snout.

“Why are you talking like that?” Logpaw asked.

Fangpaw sighed. “Nevermind then. I was thinking, we could try to find leads on the intruders.”

“Meaning you want us to sneak out and find the coyotes or rogue?” Hollypaw asked.

Fangpaw nodded enthusiastically. “Exactly.”

“I don’t think so,” Flintpaw said.

“Why not? I think it’s a great idea!”

Amberpaw watched the four other cats with interest. They had never felt comfortable speaking to them like friends, and now they were readily accepting them in their group. It made Amberpaw feel happy. And if they were able to track down the enemies in their territory, they’d be keeping the Clan safe, and possibly be rewarded or made warriors early.

“I’m in,” they said.

Fangpaw beamed, before they cleared their throat and looked stoic and confident, obviously an act. “Thank you, Amberpaw. Anyone else?”

“If trained warriors weren’t able to find them, what makes you think a group of apprentices would be able to?” Logpaw asked.

“We’re younger, faster, and haven’t had our minds molded. We think differently than the warriors. We can find things they can’t.”

Logpaw flicked her ear looking unsure.

“I don’t want to disappoint my moms,” Flintpaw said. “They’d be heartbroken if anything happened to me.”

“Noble. I like it. Flintpaw, you’re free to go.” Fangpaw gestured to the entrance of the den with their tail.

Flintpaw stilled, confused. “Th-- but, this is my nest.”

“What say you, Hollypaw?”

The black molly stared at them blankly before she exhaled and rolled her eyes. “Fine. Someone’s gotta make sure you don’t die.”

Everyone turned to look at Logpaw. She flicked her tail, and glared at everyone staring at her.

“Herbstar said four cats are the minimum. And I can’t let my sibling get themself into trouble without me.”

Fangpaw jumped on their paws. “Great! We sneak out after everyone goes to sleep.”

\--

It was dark by the time the four apprentices snuck out of the apprentice den. Thornfang was guarding at the ravine entrance with her paws under her chest. She wasn’t facing them.

“I didn’t plan this far,” Fangpaw admitted.

Amberpaw looked around the ravine. “Let’s scale the walls. I did it as a kit and it’s very easy.”

They looked up, studying the walls. Hollypaw shouldered Amberpaw. “Nice idea.”

They smiled.

Amberpaw ended up leading them up, on the same path they took as a kit, until they reached the forest floor above camp. They turned and waited for everyone to catch up. Logpaw was the last up, and the group set off into the night.

Amberpaw kept their nose high, trying to catch any trace of rogue or coyote.

“Should we split up?” They asked.

Fangpaw shook their head. “Not a good idea considering it’s not safe out here.”

Amberpaw nodded. The patrol stilled as they heard faint voices.

“Sounds like it’s coming from the border,” Hollypaw meowed.

“Rogues!” Fangpaw raced off, quickly weaving through trees and stones and was out of sight before anyone could react.

Logpaw sighed. “Dang it, Fangpaw.” She took off after her sibling, with Amberpaw and Hollypaw following close behind.

The voices grew louder, now accompanied with hissing. When they leaped over a stone and saw the meadow before them, it wasn’t rogues they were met with.

“What’s going on?” Logpaw hissed as she stepped on Fangpaw’s tail. The silver torbie jumped away from her before relaxing.

“Nothing, just a misunderstanding,” Cootpaw meowed.

Amberpaw sighed with relief. “Hello.”

Cootpaw nodded. “Hi,” another PoppyClan apprentice said, one Amberpaw didn’t recognize.

“What are three apprentices doing out so late? Are your mentors near?” Hollypaw asked.

Mosspaw tilted his head. “You’re one to talk. And it’s none of your business.”

Hollypaw flicked her tail but kept her mouth shut.

“What are you guy doing?” The unknown apprentice asked, sounding genuinely curious.

“We’re hunting for coyotes!” Fangpaw exclaimed confidently as they dug their claws into the ground and started tearing at the damp soil.

Cootpaw flicked her tail and whispered something to the other apprentice. She perked. “Okay! I’ll come too!”

Cootpaw nodded, sent the NightClan apprentices a cool unreadable look, then turned and padded away down the border. The other apprentice waved her tail in goodbye before following her Clanmmate.

Mosspaw watched them leave with flattened ears. He grumbled to himself before turning towards the other apprentices.

“My mentor said not to trust your Clan. You better stay on your side of the border!”

“Why would we want to go into the meadow?” Fangpaw asked. “You’re in the wide open, and could be easily attacked at any moment.”

“At least we don’t have to worry about rogues!”

Fangpaw’s fur stood on end. From where Amberpaw stood they could see Logpaw’s did as well, although the lilac tortie stayed where she stood. Fangpaw took a few steps towards the border until they were nose to nose with Mosspaw.

“At least we’re capable of fighting and taking care of our Clan! All you PoppyClan cats do is get in everyone’s business and talk to rogues and kittypets as if they’re Clanmates.”

Mosspaw hissed loudly and crouched ready to spring onto Fangpaw. Amberpaw tensed, wondering what to do if a fight did break out. This wasn’t how they were expecting this night to go.

At that moment Hollypaw pushed between the two. “That’s enough!” She faced Mosspaw. “We’re keeping to our side of the border, you have no reason to start a fight.” She turned to Fangpaw. “And you shouldn’t pick a fight with every cat who wants to antagonize you. Let’s get back to finding those intruders.”

Fangpaw sighed. “Fine.”

Mosspaw grumbled and stepped away, but his tail was lashing and his ears were flat.

Amberpaw stared at Hollypaw, amazed by how easily she de-escalated the situation.

Hollypaw looked at her Clanmates. “You all good? Then let’s go.” She waited for Fangpaw and Logpaw to start walking away when she met Amberpaw’s eyes. They swallowed and started padding away from the border and Hollypaw followed.

Amberpaw slowed until they were padding beside her. They had something they wanted to say, but when Hollypaw’s eyes met theirs they lost their words, so they ducked their head and stayed quiet as they walked beside her. She didn’t seem to mind their presence.

Amberpaw had a realization then, as they watched how strong and cool-headed Hollypaw was in the face of a possible fight.

They wanted to be strong like that, and capable of thinking quickly and acting in a way that other cats would look up to. They wanted to be respected and valued so that they could step between battles and find peaceful solutions. But more importantly than that,

They wanted to be a molly.


	19. Chapter 16

The days quickly became colder until every morning the Clan woke up to a forest covered in frost. Ramsonpaw despised the shift in the weather, hating how cold his paws felt against rocks that would normally feel warm in the sunlight. More and more often he found himself wanting to stay in the camp curled up in his nest, left alone to sleep away the chill in the air, but Snaketooth never gave him the time to.

There was a thump by his paws as Thornfang dropped the squirrel from the tree. The black and white apprentice was surprised to see how plump it looked considering the season.

“How’d you find this?” He asked.

Thornfang climbed down the tree and landed beside him with a huff. “Squirrels store their food for Leafbare.”

“Ah.”

“Ramsonpaw, come here.”

He stood, shaking his paws, before heading over to his mentor. Snaketooth gestured towards a bundle of green leaves. “Can you name this plant?”

“Um.” Ramsonpaw flicked his tail. He definitely knew the answer, but fear over saying the wrong thing made his tongue stiff. “They’re uh, mint I think?”

Snaketooth nodded. “Tell me a bit about them.”

“They smell nice and they can help with colds, rashes, bug bites, and stomach issues,” Ramsonpaw said before slowing down, reminding himself he could be thinking of a completely different herb. “But we shouldn’t eat too much at once.”

“Very good.” Snaketooth smiled down at his apprentice proudly. "It's not always eaten though, and is made into a poultice for rashes and bites." Ramsonpaw nodded and felt a rush of pride that made it hard to focus on his task as Snaketooth told him to pick some of the leaves.

Thornfang brushed beside Ramsonpaw, carrying her squirrel. “I’d take fresh kill over some smelly leaves any day,” she said.

“I don’t mind this one,” Ramsonpaw mumbled, enjoying the smell against his nose.

Monarchwing ran up to the group, mildly out of breath. “Sorry for falling behind. I thought I heard something.”

Snaketooth flicked his ear. “Did you?”

“No sir,” she shook her head as she spoke. “Turned out to be a mouse and I stumbled onto it before realizing that’s what it was.”

Ramsonpaw eyed her, slowly flicking his tail. He couldn’t help but think about how strange the warrior was. She once again had that air to her that made it hard for him to read her like he could the rest of his Clanmates.

Snaketooth humphed. “Well, let’s get going then.” Thornfang tilted her head as she gave Monarchwing a questioning look but the ginger molly only smiled and followed Snaketooth without a word.

Ramsonpaw picked up the few leaves he picked and hurried after his mentor, with Thornfang following behind him.

The longer they were out in the forest the more Ramsonpaw couldn’t wait to get home and curl up in his nest and sleep. His paws ached with every step against the frosty ground and each breath of cold air made his throat burn.

Monarchwing stopped suddenly, looking out towards the East. Snaketooth, noticing the warrior’s sudden pause, stilled with a paw mid-step and turned to give her a questioning yet stern look.

There was a moment where she looked frozen, a single image incapable of movement, before she exhaled and noticed everyone staring at her.

“Sorry, I just saw something. I’m probably paranoid, but I want to check it out. It’s better safe than sorry.” She started padding away from them, waving her tail to signal goodbye.

Snaketooth sat and Ramsonpaw inwardly cringed thinking about how cold the ground must be against his rump. “We’ll wait here for you. Come right back if it’s danger.”

Monarchwing nodded before she disappeared down a ledge.

\--

Snaketooth had sniffed out some red clover a tree length away and picked some before heading back to the group. Meanwhile Thornfang had found a flat boulder in the sunlight. It still felt cold against Ramsonpaw’s paws but it was better than the frozen ground. The black tabby warrior had set down her squirrel and lied down on the rock before she started grooming her belly.

Ramsonpaw set down the mint leaves by where Snaketooth left the red clover, and started licking his paws to try to warm them up. While he was busy with that he didn’t notice Snaketooth stand and pad over to Thornfang until he spoke.

“Your scent has changed,” the older cat commented. “Are you expecting?”

Ramsonpaw’s ears perked and he raised his head to watch the two’s conversation.

Thornfang flicked her ear with amusement written on her face. “I am. It hasn’t been that long, but I’m surprised you were the first one to notice, considering how old you are.”

Snaketooth snorted. “Just because I’m old doesn’t mean I can’t smell.”

“Does Boulderclaw know?” Ramsonpaw asked. Thornfang’s eyes met his and he ducked his head slightly.

“No. I was going to surprise him today.”

Snaketooth hummed and sat, curling his thin tail over his paws. “He’ll be proud of you. Darkwing would be too.”

Ramsonpaw missed Thornfang’s response as he wondered who the father was, although he didn’t voice this question. Addertail had hammered it into his head that asking who the father is was extremely rude. He couldn’t help but ponder it though. He flicked his tail, thinking no one in the Clan seemed fit to be Thornfang’s mate.

‘And I wonder what the kits will look like,’ he thought. The more he pondered new kits coming into the Clan, the more excited he got. He was honestly tired of being one of the two youngest cats in NightClan. By the time they were born could he be ready to have an apprentice of his own? He shook his head. That was a nonsensical fantasy.

The medicine cat apprentice flicked his ear, hearing steady pawsteps crunching against white blades of grass. Monarchwing padded towards the group, as unreadable as she usually is.

“It was a deer,” she said as she hopped onto the stone the three other cats were sitting on.

“You were gone for a while,” Snaketooth meowed as he narrowed his eyes towards the ginger warrior.

“I got distracted following it.” She paused. “Deer are said to bring about change. I wanted to see if something would happen.”

Snaketooth hummed but dropped the subject. “You ready to head back?”

Thornfang scoffed and stood to her paws. “I’m still perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” She hopped off the stone and started padding away towards the camp.

Snaketooth jutted his jaw, frowning at Thornfang’s back before he picked up the red clover and started following her. “Don’t forget the mint,” he said as he passed Ramsonpaw.

The apprentice nodded and started picking up the leaves when Monarchwing stepped in front of him.

“Want some help?”

Ramsonpaw’s whiskers twitched, leaves half way in his mouth. “No, I can handle it.” She stepped back as he picked up the mint leaves and started hurrying after Snaketooth. As they headed back to camp she fell into step beside him, making his fur stand on end.

Giving her a glare she smiled and said, “you’re a valuable cat to the Clan and you don’t have any battle training. I want to make sure you’re not harmed in case we’re attacked.”

Ramsonpaw sighed through the leaves and gave her a small smile, although he didn’t feel it. Monarchwing, if she noticed his lackluster response, didn’t comment on it and focused on watching the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me, while writing characters being nice to each other: Boy I sure hope no one reads this as romantic because that is n o t my intention  
> Being naive, oblivious, and ace/demi is not a good combination when you live in a society that tries to shove romance down your throat
> 
> Also  
> My motto when writing is "everyone is bi or ace until proven otherwise"  
> I think the only character I've discovered to not be bi or ace so far is Greypelt  
> He's definitely straight


	20. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Injury, blood, death mention, anxiety, negative emotions

When the four cats made it back to the ravine everyone in camp seemed to be in a panic. Through all the noise Ramsonpaw could detect the smell of wet iron. His mouth went dry. _It was blood!_ Snaketooth dropped the red clover and grabbed Flintpaw by the scruff as the skittish black tom ran past.

“What’s going on?” Snaketooth questioned him, looking scarier than Ramsonpaw had ever seen the usually laid-back cat.

The apprentice stared at him with wide green eyes before he shakily gestured towards Herbstar’s den. Below the ledge leading up to her den, the grey leader was lying on the hard stone floor. Chervillight was crouched over her making it hard to see their leader’s condition.

Snaketooth instantly let go of the apprentice and bounded over to the two, reaching them in only a few strides. Ramsonpaw set the mint down and turned to Monarchwing. “Can you take these to the medicine den?”

“Uh sure.” Ramsonpaw was already running towards his mentor and leader. He felt strong on his paws and a strange clarity in his head which chased away every thought except ‘help Herbstar anyway I can.’

“Stand back!” He snapped at the warriors standing around before he slowed to a stop beside his mentor. Despite him being an apprentice, everyone took a few paces backwards, and some left to stand on the other side of the ravine.

Herbstar stirred as he reached them, blinking open a green eye in pain. Chervillight leaned forward with a comforting purr, softly licking her forehead. “It’s okay, love. You’re gonna be okay.”

Herbstar chuckled before grimacing. “I told you before, I’m not going to StarClan without you beside me.”

Chervillight’s eyes shone as she leaned further into her mate. “Of course. I remember that.”

Herbstar jolted with a hiss of pain as Snaketooth touched a sore spot on her pelt. The medicine cat pulled back with a look of sympathy on his face. “It’s already stopped bleeding,” he meowed. “We’ll just need to clean it and give you something to help fight possible infections. You’ll be weak for a while.”

Between the two cats leaning over her, Ramsonpaw could see a long gash down her side. He flattened his ears and crouched beside her to start cleaning around her wound.

Herbstar nodded, trying to press further into Chervillight’s chest as the deputy continued to purr and lick her ear. “If I ever see that mangeface again, I’ll--”

“What happened?” Snaketooth cut in, eyes narrowing.

“We were out hunting,” Chervillight explained. “Then some rogue attacked her while I had my back turned.”

“They’re a coward,” Herbstar hissed tensely. “They ran as soon as Chervillight came back.”

Chervillight smiled. “I’m tough when I want to protect my family. As tough as a bear even. I could probably win a fight with Bearpelt if he started threatening you or Flintpaw.”

Ramsonpaw felt Herbstar’s flank shake as the molly laughed softly.

“I’m going to fetch something for her,” Snaketooth said to his apprentice as he stood. “Flintpaw! Bring them some water.”

Ramsonpaw stepped back when her fur around the gash was clean and the leader relaxed against Chervillight with a soft sigh. “She’s not going to lose a life, is she?” He questioned, more so to himself than anyone else.

Chervillight gazed up at him with an unreadable expression before she closed her eyes. “No, I’m not letting her die over something so simple.”

Snaketooth came back with a mouthful of goldenseal. As he set it down near Herbstar’s nose and began urging her to eat it, Ramsonpaw’s eyes met with Amberpaw’s from across the clearing. He tried to give her a reassuring smile but it felt forced. Amberpaw must have saw through it but she smiled back anyway.

\--

The Clan had made a nest below the ledge for Herbstar and Chervillight, not wanting the leader to reopen her wound trying to climb up to her den. Flintpaw had wanted to stay with them and for a while was squeezed between the two, until they forced him to go to the apprentice den.

Ramsonpaw was exhausted. He felt like a ghost on his paws, as if he could fall over at any moment. There was a fog over his head that made it hard to think straight. He looked around trying to remember where Snaketooth told him he was going.

Amberpaw ran up to her brother, an endless source of energy in Ramsonpaw’s opinion, and pressed her forehead to his. “Boulderclaw wants to take out a patrol first thing tomorrow to find the rogue that did this. Did Herbstar or Chervillight say anything more?”

Ramsonpaw sighed and pulled away from his sister. “Chervillight said they were white with a bent tail, and they smelled like Twolegplace.”

Amberpaw frowned. “I don’t know what Twolegplace smells like.”

“I don’t either.”

The conversation stalled and Ramsonpaw felt his hind legs give out as he slowly slumped onto the stone ground. Amberpaw crouched beside him, concern in her eyes.

“I’m so tired,” Ramsonpaw admitted. “Snaketooth always has more for me to do and I just want to sleep all the time. And I hate how cold it is!” He was acutely aware of how his voice turned into a whine the more he spoke, and anxiety flooded his body as he thought about other cats hearing him complain like a kit, but he couldn’t stop. “I don’t think I can do this!”

He felt Amberpaw’s nose touch his head, setting off something in his mind. He jerked away, flattening his ears and feeling frustration burn in his chest, threatening to spill over.

“Don’t--Don’t touch me right now.”

“Sorry. Can you stand long enough to go to your nest?”

Ramsonpaw wanted to snap at her. He wanted to prove that he didn’t need anyone helping him. Instead, he sighed and nodded before forcing himself to his paws.

He let Amberpaw guide him to the medicine den. When Ramsonpaw finally fell into his nest and buried his nose into the moss Amberpaw stayed and sat beside him, calmly wrapping her tail around her paws.

“If it means anything, I think you’re a great medicine cat,” she said, keeping her voice low. “There’ll be hard things with every path you take, but that doesn’t mean every mishap is a sign you’re failing.”

Ramsonpaw lifted his nose to look at his sister, who was so much braver and wiser than he could be. His chest burned with a flood of emotions he could hardly process: anger, frustration, anxiety, jealousy. Ramsonpaw flattened his ears. ‘I’m not a good cat. I’m not nice and I can’t talk to others and I’m not good at my job and I always get stuck in my own head. Amberpaw deserves better than me.’

He let out a shaky breath, remembering how Amberpaw’s been growing closer to the other apprentices. She had friends now.

Ramsonpaw shook himself and lifted his head, trying to make his voice light and _okay_ , despite everything taking his system into overdrive. “I’m okay. Sorry for worrying you.”

Amberpaw smiled. “No problem, Ramson.”

Fangpaw poked their head into the medicine den before their eyes landed on Amberpaw. “Oh there you are! I’ve been wondering where you went.”

“Leave them alone, Fangpaw,” Logpaw snapped from somewhere outside the den, sounding tired.

“Oh! Oops.” Amberpaw gave them a light smile. “Actually I want to stay here tonight.”

Ramsonpaw jumped up from his nest. “No! That’s okay. I’m fine now. Go with your friends.”

Amberpaw frowned and met Ramsonpaw’s eyes with a serious expression. “But you’re my brothe--”

“Come on, Amberpaw!”

She looked between Fangpaw and Ramsonpaw, fur slowly rising along her spine.

Ramsonpaw sighed. “You’re being loud. It’s best if you go.”

Amberpaw’s eyes met Ramsonpaw’s again. Her upset expression made Ramsonpaw’s chest ache more but he swallowed it down and buried his nose under his paws and closed his eyes. He could feel Amberpaw’s presence still in the den, but after some more prompting from Fangpaw, she gave up and left with the torbie apprentice.

Everything was silent now except for a few quiet conversations somewhere else in camp. Ramsonpaw felt his throat burning. He lashed his tail, not knowing how to deal with the storm whirling around in his head.


	21. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Anxiety attack

 

There was a faint scent in the air trying to urge him out of his sleep. Under the hazy fog filling his head he registered it as the smell of heather.

Where those pawsteps around him? Ramsonpaw buried his head further under his paws, not ready to wake up yet.

A gentle tail rested on his shoulder, but he couldn’t be sure if it was real or if he just imagined it.

He flicked his ear, hearing a faint voice in the wind. He couldn’t make out what it was saying, and the longer he played it over in his head the more he was convinced it wasn’t a voice but the wind in the trees.

“Wake up,” someone said from above him, and the fog in his head started to clear.

‘Torrenttail?’

Ramsonpaw opened his eyes to see he was in the medicine den. Everything in camp was quiet, with the only smells around him being that of his Clanmates and the forest he was familiar with.

The medicine cat apprentice sighed and rested his head on his paws. Snaketooth, further in the den, _mrrped_ in his sleep and shifted. Ramsonpaw watched him, wondering if he was going to wake up, but was relieved when the tabby stilled again.

There were definitely pawsteps somewhere in camp. Ramsonpaw closed his eyes and ignored it.

He opened his eyes again as he caught another whiff of PoppyClan scent. Was it Torrenttail trying to tell him something? Or were they being invaded?

Ramsonpaw jumped out of his nest with a racing heart and poked his head out of the medicine den to watch the ravine. The scent was gone leaving only Monarchwing padding around camp, Sparrowfoot guarding, and Herbstar and Chervillight sleeping peacefully under the ledge. Ramsonpaw looked towards the forest above the stone walls of the ravine.

There was no movement, no PoppyClan scent. Ramsonpaw exhaled and tried getting his heartbeat under control again.

Monarchwing stopped outside the warriors den. She looked at Sparrowfoot who was facing the forest, before she turned and padded towards the side of the ravine.

Ramsonpaw ducked his head and watched as she silently climbed up the ravine and disappeared into the forest overhead.

Suspicious now, Ramsonpaw padded out of the medicine den and headed into the clearing.

‘Did you wake me up to find what she was doing?’ he thought.

He flicked his tail, eyeing the path the ginger warrior took up. He doubted he could climb as silently as she did, not having the same experience with stalking and sneaking.

Instead he turned and padded towards Sparrowfoot. The lean warrior stood, startled, as Ramsonpaw padded up to him. Ramsonpaw slowed his breathing, trying to ignore the pounding in his chest.

“I’m going to get some water. I won’t go out too far.”

“Alright. Be safe,” he responded as Ramsonpaw padded past him. He climbed down the ledge outside the camp entrance, ducking out of the warriors sight, before turning and padding around the ravine until he found Monarchwing’s scent.

She was nowhere to be found, leaving only her scent against the ferns. Ramsonpaw flicked his tail and followed at a walking pace. He wasn’t sure where she was or how close he was to her, but he couldn’t hear or see her so he figured she took off as soon as she left the camp.

He continued walking, upset by the cold night air, but determined to find out what she was up to.

‘It could be nothing,’ he reasoned with himself. ‘I could have been imagining Torrenttail. Monarchwing could just be out hunting by herself.’ He could understand wanting alone time and would have done the same.

He stopped and perked his ears as he heard voices ahead of him. He crouched low before slowly creeping forward. Not knowing exactly where she was, he crept around boulders, trees, and a few ferns that managed to grow in some places, until he spotted movement over a ridge.

Ramsonpaw saw the grey and cream calico first. His fur stood on end. ‘An intruder!’

But Monarchwing was sitting and speaking calmly to the stranger. She looked completely relaxed and comfortable around the calico. At one point Ramsonpaw heard her laugh about something the cat said.

“Why did you want me to see this?” He breathed softly. “I don’t know what this means. Torrenttail, what--”

He ducked his head, pressing his nose against the cold ground, before cringing and lifting it. There was no other scent. No sign of answers. Ramsonpaw stood and quietly started padding back to camp. Once he was out of earshot he was running, trying to work off everything in his system before it built up again. The new information he gained wasn’t helping.

“What do you want me to do? What do you want me to do?”

He skidded to a halt before he fell into the ravine. He had hardly realized his legs were shaking and wasn’t sure if it was because of the cold or everything feeling overwhelming inside his head.

‘Why am I freaking out?’ He shook himself, breathed deeply a few times, then started heading towards the ravine entrance. ‘This is nothing. I shouldn’t be so worked up over nothing.’

He nodded a greeting to Sparrowfoot before padding back into the camp. ‘Calm down calm down calm down calm--’

Earlier that day, while Snaketooth and him were collecting herbs, Monarchwing probably snuck off to meet with that cat. That must have been why she was acting so weird. And after seeing them, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. Was this cat bad news? Were they simply a friend who meant no harm to the Clan? Or much more convincingly in Ramsonpaw's mind, were they a battle-hungry rogue determined to bring about the destruction of NightClan and kill everyone he knew and loved?

Should he tell anyone? He should probably tell Snaketooth at least. And Amber--

Amberpaw was with her friends. She didn’t need to be worried about him and his problems anymore.

“Ramsonpaw?”

He blinked when he saw Addertail emerging from the nursery. The tabby yawned widely before she padded up to him.

“I’ve hardly spoken with you or Amberpaw since you two became apprentices. That’s very rude of you two by the way.” Her eyes softened as she noticed the tom’s ragged breathing and how stiff he looked. “Ramsonpaw, are you alright?”

Ramsonpaw stared at her, trying to remember how to move his mouth.

“I’ve just been overwhelmed lately. B-but it’s not big deal,” he hurried. “I can handle it. I’ll just go back to my nest, sorry for waking you!”

He turned and started hurrying away but Addertail was quicker and easily moved in front of him.

“Ramsonpaw, wait!”

He froze and stared wide-eyed at the nursemaid. She leaned forward, moving slowly to give him time to pull away. He wanted to but he felt too stiff to do anything. Addertail gently placed her forehead against his and started purring softly.

She was silent for a long moment, and Ramsonpaw found himself slowly relaxing as time went on.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.

Ramsonpaw shook his head on an automatic response. He paused. “I want to process everything first… I think Amberpaw’s mad at me though.”

“Oh? I’m sure she’s not. I’ve only ever seen her mad at a wasp. Unless you stung her tail too.”

Ramsonpaw let out a breathy chuckle. “I didn’t do that. I just--I don't know.”

Addertail nodded. Ramsonpaw wrinkled his nose as her chest fur tickled his nose.

“Sorry for bothering you,” he meowed quietly.

Addertail shook her head and wrapped her thin tail around him. “You’re not bothering me. You can trust me, Ramsonpaw. Anytime you want to talk, I’ll be here to listen.”

“Thanks.” His throat felt tight again, for a completely different reason now. It was nice being cared for, but being so close was starting to make him uncomfortable. He pulled away first. Addertail blinked slowly as she met his eyes again. “I’ll try to visit more often,” he promised.

Addertail smiled and licked his ear a few times before stretching her legs. “I’m going to get something to eat before dawn. Do you want to sit by me?”

Ramsonpaw thought about his nest. It was still cold out and he’d prefer being curled up in his nest to staying in the clearing any longer. Still, it was nice, the way Addertail treated him. She treated him like her own kit, which caused a longing in his chest he couldn’t name before.

And maybe fighting his head and staying out a little longer wasn’t so bad.

“Yeah, I’d love to.”

Addertail smiled, gestured with her tail for him to walk with her, then started padding towards the prey pile. Ramsonpaw jumped to his feet and trotted at her side. He still didn't feel completely fine, but he was okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes the last two chapters have been gloomy  
> Ramsonpaw's such a gloomy kid


	22. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Implied death mention

“Poor Comfreypond,” Risingwind said as the black medicine cat left camp.

Pondtail nodded, not knowing how else to respond. They couldn’t imagine losing a kit.

Risingwind flicked her tail steadily. “Halfmoon is tonight,” she mused. The cream molly stood and chased after her sister without another word, leaving Pondtail awkwardly in the middle of camp. They tilted their head, confused by her yet again. PoppyClan cats were odd.

They looked at the ground and absentmindedly pawed the grass. They were unsure what to do with themself since the cats they usually hung out with were busy. Bristletail left to hunt on their own earlier, after repeatedly dismissing Pondtail’s suggestion to go with him. They still weren’t completely sure why he left on his own. As long as they knew him, Bristletail’s never expressed the need for alone time.

Movement caught their eye and they looked over to see Teaselfeather’s kits running out of the nursery into the clearing. The lilac tabby queen followed them after a few more moments, looking tired. Pondtail could understand why. The three kits were half the size of their Clanmates and growing quickly. Before too long they’d be as tall as everyone else and be made apprentices.

“Leafkit don’t bother them!” They small tom was already climbing on top of Crowfrost, who had been napping. The senior medicine cat jolted up with a hiss, knocking the kit over into a patch of prickly flowers. Leafkit yowled and ran towards Teaselfeather, who crouched near him and started nosing his torn pelt.

“That was uncalled for,” she queen spoke harshly.

Crowfrost scoffed and flicked their tail. “I’m not a plaything.” Still, they stood and padded closer to the two. Leafkit cowered deeper into Teaselfeather’s fur until the smoky black cat stopped near them. “Here. I’ll take care of your scratches.”

The kit shook his head, refusing to look up at them. Crowfrost sighed.

“Why don’t you take them for a walk to shave off some of their energy.”

Teaselfeather hummed, giving Leafkit another few licks on the ear, before she stood. “Come on you three.”

Pondtail jumped as something landed on their tail. Looking around, they saw it was Dawnkit. They flicked their tail slowly and she reared up and pounced on it again.

Something felt light in their chest as she played with their tail. Amusement, happiness, they weren’t sure. She was adorable! They flicked their tail again, allowing the kit to bat at it with tiny claws.

“Dawnkit, did you hear me?”

The kit continued to play. Pondtail looked apologetically at Teaselfeather before they stood and held their tail out of the kit’s reach. “Your mother wants you.”

The kit crouched playfully. “I wanna play with you!”

The cream-silver warrior laughed. “Maybe later. I think Teaselfeather’s taking you and your brothers outside. Isn’t that exciting?”

The kit sat up with wide eyes. “She is?”

“I am,” Teaselfeather meowed, having padded closer. She looked at Pondtail. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Pondtail looked down at the kit, who stood up as Leafkit nearly ran into her. They didn’t have anything else to do, and they figured it would be nice to spend time with their other Clanmates.

“Sure.”

Teaselfeather smiled before she turned away. “Let’s go you three.” She started padding away, confident her kits weren’t far behind. They weren’t.

Leafkit seemed to want to stay close and was a whisker length away from her tail tip. Dawnkit, currently having more energy than her brothers, ran until she was beside their mother, and needed to jog in order to keep up with her. Fennelkit, who was so quiet Pondtail hadn’t noticed him, was right at Teaselfeather’s paws much like Leafkit was.

Pondtail smiled and followed them.

Out in the meadow they inexplicably felt free and trapped at the same time. It was nice being out in the open with the sun shining overhead, as it tried to warm the cold earth with little success. But at the same time, they were part of a Clan now. Clan life was so vastly different than their old home. There were more rules and codes to follow, cats who valued your word and cats who expected something of you in order to remain in their family.

They did enjoy their new life though, especially when they got to spend time with other cats, or new cats. They liked the feeling of having Clanmates to rely on during hard times, even if they were different from the rest of them and sometimes felt outcasted.

Leafkit was soon running beside Dawnkit, matching her energy. Fennelkit, meanwhile, had slowed down. Pondtail assumed that with his shorter legs he was tired of trying to keep up with Teaselfeather. It wasn’t long before the small fawn colored kit was padding beside them instead of behind his mother. Pondtail made sure to slow their pace so the kit wouldn’t fall behind.

Dawnkit jumped when she saw a beetle and tried pouncing on it.

“What is it? Let me see!” Leafkit meowed and started climbing over her.

Teaselfeather had stopped and let them play. Pondtail trotted up to her with Fennelkit beside them.

They wanted to ask her something, and played the question over in their head as they tried to find the best way to word it. “You seem proud of them,” they ended up saying.

Teaselfeather nodded, not taking her eyes off the two kits playing with the bug. They soon lost interested in it and started play-fighting each other. Fennelkit decided to sit between the two adult cats and watch his siblings play.

“They mean everything to me. After they were born, I knew they’d be special. I love them more than I’ve ever loved anyone.”

Pondtail flicked their tail, processing her words. “Did you want kits before you had them?”

Teaselfeather hummed and leaned down to lick Fennelkit’s head. The tom didn’t respond to her as he watched Leafkit tackle Dawnkit.

Pondtail tilted their head, not sure what kind of answer that was. Teaselfeather’s green eyes met theirs with an amused expression. “Why all the questions? Are you wanting kits of your own?”

Pondtail flicked their tail and sat on the frosty grass before looking away from her. They honestly weren’t sure of the answer. For the time being, they were content being just a warrior.

“I think it would be nice…” they tried. “Well, nice having family.”

“Bristletail’s your family,” Teaselfeather said. “And so is all the rest of us. In PoppyClan we’re all family.” She gently wrapped her tail around Fennelkit. “Why don’t you play with them?”

The fawn tabby kit shook his head.

“Alright.” Teaselfeather looked up again. “Honestly, Pondtail. I thought you knew that.”

Pondtail chuckled. “Well. Hm.” They looked away towards the horizon. “I’ll try to remember now.”

* * *

 


	23. Chapter 20

“And be sure to eat and rest before we go.”

Ramsonpaw nodded as he finished going over every herb they had in the den, naming them and their uses. He was starting to feel a little more confident with them, but still got herbs with similar uses or appearances mixed up. He could not for the life of him remember which was ginger and which was peppermint.

“Snaketooth? You wanted to see me?” Ramsonpaw stilled as Amberpaw stepped into the crevice forming the medicine cat den. Snaketooth shifted beside Ramsonpaw, but the apprentice kept his nose towards the herbs in front of him.

“Yes. Here,” Snaketooth meowed before pulling out a strange herb Ramsonpaw had never smelled before. The tabby carried it towards Amberpaw before setting it by her paws. “It’s watertail. If you eat one of these every half moon it’ll change your scent, so you’ll smell like a molly. Do you want it?”

Ramsonpaw blinked and turned his head to look at the two. He didn’t know they even kept a herb like that in the den, and seeing it now, he had never seen it before. Snaketooth had probably left to find it that night Ramsonpaw couldn’t find him.

Amberpaw stood there speechless for a moment, before she blinked and stared up at Snaketooth with a torrent of emotions behind her eyes that made Ramsonpaw’s head hurt trying to place them all.

“Y-yes sir! Thank you so much.” Her voice wavered as she spoke. Snaketooth nodded, looking content with himself, before he turned and padded back towards Ramsonpaw and the herb stash. “Immediately tell me if your body reacts negatively to it.” Amberpaw nodded animatedly before picking up the plant and running out of the den, presumably to show her friends. “We’ll have to start collecting more watertail now,” Snaketooth said.

Ramsonpaw nodded. “I should have figured there were more herbs like that, especially since Fangpaw’s scent is different.”

“They eat something else.”

Ramsonpaw hummed and pushed a pile of herbs back into place. He began to wonder if there was a plant out there that could make a cat smell like a tom, and if there is one, why Snaketooth didn’t keep any around? Would it be rude to ask? He flicked his tail in thought. It probably was rude to ask. It wasn't his business.

Snaketooth stood. “Alright, let’s get something to eat. We can leave before the sun starts setting.”

The medicine apprentice pushed himself to his paws and followed his mentor out of the den, into a camp that was getting colder and colder by the day.

\--

“Sorry,” Ramsonpaw mumbled after accidentally stepping on Hollypaw’s tail. The black apprentice only gave him an unreadable gaze before she turned away. Ramsonpaw swallowed, wondering if she was upset at him now, but nothing about her body language indicated she was upset. She was just aloof... Too aloof.

Was she mad?

She was mad at him.

“Chin up,” Snaketooth suddenly said before batting his apprentice’s chin with his tail. “This is an important night, you need to clear your thoughts and focus on what’s around you.”

“We’re not even there yet,” Palestripe said from the front of the patrol.

Snaketooth snorted. “Like that matters. A medicine cat’s job is to act as a seer for the Clans. There are signs all around us and we need to be constantly aware of them. The fact that we’re not at Moonhill has no importance.”

“See, I can never understand your role.” Palestripe side-eyed the two without facing them. “But, whatever you say, sir.”

They fell into silence and Ramsonpaw focused on the forest around them. The air was cold, with the frost from the morning having not thawed during the day. It was left to collect even more frost when night fell. He vaguely wondered if it would snow.

The black and white apprentice looked towards the sky, which was clear and red. Didn’t look like it would snow tonight.

They ran into three PoppyClan cats before reaching the path to cross the river. It was Risingwind, a cat who’d introduced herself to him earlier, a ruddy molly he’d never seen before, and Crowfrost.

“Crowfrost, Risingwind, Foxstorm,” Palestripe dipped her head to each of them. “Where’s Comfreypond?”

“She’s staying at camp tonight,” the senior medicine cat responded.

Risingwind nodded, looking sorrowful. “I tried to talk to her, but she’s taking Shadepaw’s death hard.”

“Oh.” Palestripe slowly flicked her tail, processing their words. Snaketooth padded up to them.

“Give her my sincerest apologies. I’ve lost many family members in my life and it’s never easy.”

“Thank you,” Risingwind meowed.

Snaketooth shook his head. “No need. I wish her and your Clan the best.”

They gave him an appreciative gaze before turning to head back to camp, leaving the NightClan cats with one extra cat.

\--

The medicine cats continued heading towards Moonhill after leaving their escorts before the river. Eventually Wideeyes, Fireflypelt, and Littlepaw joined them.

“Hello!” Wideeyes meowed, being the last to meet them. He half-ran up to them from behind while waving his tail wildly in greeting. “How goes?”

Snaketooth huffed while Crowfrost grumbled something. Ramsonpaw stayed quiet and noticed Littlepaw doing the same.

“We’ve been well,” Fireflypelt meowed cheerfully. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You too. Prey still swimming in IvyClan?”

Fireflypelt nodded. “Harrierstripe caught a huge bass the other day! I’m so proud of him.”

“Harrierstripe? He got his warrior name?”

“Yup! Him and Redpelt.”

“How traditional. I assume Littlepaw’s getting his name tonight then?”

Fireflypelt nodded. “Yep. But what about you? How’s Jayleap been treating you?”

“Wonderfully.” Wideeyes stared ahead blankly with his wide blue-green eyes, but his tone indicated more about his mood than his expressions did. “He brings me something to eat every morning and night, and is always curious about things like how my day’s been and what certain herbs do. Between you and me, I don’t think he’s interested in the herbs and just likes hearing me talk.”

Fireflypelt laughed softly. “How sweet.”

Ramsonpaw stared at the two, amazed and intimidated by the pace of their conversation. He took and breath and shook his fur.

‘It’s okay,’ he thought. He found himself easing up, content listening to the two friendliest cats he’s ever met talking about stuff that didn’t concern him. Even though Snaketooth and Crowfrost didn’t comment, he could see they didn’t mind the chatter either. Littlepaw, on the other hand, had continually slowed his pace until he was behind everyone else.

Ramsonpaw gave him a questioning look. The fawn colored tom was glaring at the ground with embarrassment radiating off his pelt like a hot stone. Maybe Ramsonpaw could…

His heart started to race as he slowed down a bit to walk beside the IvyClan apprentice.

“So, getting your new name? That’s exciting.”

“Huh?” He blinked and looked up at Ramsonpaw. “What?”

Ramsonpaw flattened his ears, feeling his anxiety spike again. Talking was hard. “Fireflypelt said you’re getting your new name tonight.”

“Oh. Yeah, I am.”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

Ramsonpaw sighed and looked forwards, feeling more awkward than anything. ‘It’s okay… I’m okay…’

\--

There seemed to be a shadow over Moonhill before they even got there, a darkness in Ramsonpaw’s vision that he couldn’t blink away. The tension made his fur stand on end. He swallowed and quickly padded up to Snaketooth.

“I have a bad feeling,” he said quietly.

Snaketooth nodded, keeping his eyes on the oak tree past the hill. “Let’s stop here,” he meowed.

The other medicine cats stopped to look at him with different reactions. Crowfrost’s was mostly unimpressed with mild agitation, while Littlepaw’s was relief, Fireflypelt’s was concern, and Wideeyes Ramsonpaw couldn’t read.

“Why? It’s nightfall,” Crowfrost meowed.

Snaketooth flicked his ear before gesturing towards the oak tree. Ramsonpaw perked and look towards the towering tree. Across the hill a few dark shapes were moving about. He hadn’t noticed them before

“Are those… cats?” Littlepaw asked.

“Cats, coyotes, monsters, frankly I don’t care. None of us can fight, especially since it’s a spiritual night.”

Crowfrost flicked their tail in aggravation before they lowered their head with flattened ears and a growl. “We’re close enough here. And we’ll have our warriors chase them away from our territories tomorrow.”

“Can we still speak to StarClan from here?” Ramsonpaw asked.

“Probably,” Fireflypelt was the one to respond.

“Most cats know they’re not allowed here,” Snaketooth said. “So this has never happened in my time of being a medicine cat.”

“Is it safe being so close to them?” Littlepaw asked as he eyed the figures across the clearing. “They might attack us.”

“We can sleep over here,” Fireflypelt said as she moved down the clearing towards a log within IvyClan’s border. It was a mangled looking thing that offered cover underneath it.

Snaketooth, Crowfrost, and Wideyes looked among each other before agreeing with the pudgy tortoiseshell.

\--

Oddly enough, Ramsonpaw felt comforted by the cramped area. He ended up sitting beside the newly named Littlestorm as the six cats lied down to sleep. Although the thought of being attacked by those strange figures scared him, he tried to push them out of his mind. The soft breathing of the other five cats and the heat from their bodies against the cold night air helped relieve him of some of his anxieties, and he soon found himself drifting off.

The first thing he noticed when he came to again was the familiarity of NightClan territory. He blinked and stood. Everything felt warm and hazy, without the cold that came with leafbare.

“Torrenttail?” He called out. Stepping out from underneath a boulder ledge, he was relieved to feel grass and dirt on his paws that didn’t sting with frost. The sky was still blinding so he kept his head level and refused to look up.

“Over here.” The white tom hopped down beside him and smiled warmly. “I made sure to make this place look like NightClan territory this time.”

Ramsonpaw hummed in amusement and sat down before curling his tail over his paws. “Thank you.”

“No problem.” The StarClan cat sat down as well. “Now that you’re here there is something I need to tell you.”

Ramsonpaw blinked. “Yeah? I have a question for you also.”

“Oh no. Well maybe they’re about the same thing. What’s your question?”

Ramsonpaw exhaled and looked away from the white tom, trying to piece together the correct wording to ask. “That cat I saw with Monarchwing. You lead me to them, right? Why did you want me to see that?”

Torrenttail flicked his tail. Ramsonpaw could feel it brush against his paw as he did so.

“So we were thinking the same thing. I don’t trust that cat,” he finally said. “There’s an icy shard in her heart, one that extends to her claws. It’s vengeance I think.”

Ramsonpaw flattened his ears, feeling thickness in his throat. He tried to swallow it down, but it only made the feeling worse.

“The thing about us StarClan cats,” Torrenttail continued, “is we can see different paths cats can take in their life. I can’t see anything good about this cat, but most of her pathways are blocked to me. That doesn’t mean anything’s for certain either. A part of your job is to guide your Clanmates. You can’t control the paths they take, but you can help them be aware of their options, and offer potential paths that would benefit everyone more.”

Ramsonpaw wanted to ask what he was supposed to do with that, but his throat wasn’t working. He kept his eyes on the trees, hoping Torrenttail continued.

“You need to protect NightClan. Give Monarchwing paths she couldn’t see before, and give the stranger paths she didn’t see either. Sometimes this isn’t possible, but it’s worth a shot and at this point it’s the best you could do for NightClan.”


	24. Chapter 21

Amberpaw was in the training area again, practicing fighting moves with Flintpaw while their mentors occasionally offered advice. Flintpaw was only a moon older than Amberpaw was, but she was doing well against him.

Flintpaw didn’t seem fond of fighting though.

She easily ducked one of his swipes before she kicked off the ground, wrapping her forelegs around his neck, and knocking them both over. Flintpaw made a strangled noise making Amberpaw wonder if she was too rough, but the black tom was breathing fine, and started batting at her stomach with his legs.

She didn’t move, keeping him pinned down until he stopped and went limp. “I give up,” he meowed.

Amberpaw jumped away from him and held her head high. “I win!”

“Good job, Amberpaw!” Tornears said, matching her excitement.

“Good job to you too,” Amberpaw meowed at Flintpaw who was lying on the ground with a tired expression.

“Thanks,” he said, sounding not at all pleased.

Sparrowfoot padded towards the two. “If it helps, when someone has you pinned like that, try biting at their face.”

“Aren’t we not supposed to bite?” Amberpaw asked, remembering what happened to Asterclaw. A bite too deep that lead to an infection no one was able to clean or heal. Lots of cats told her that half the time bites were a death sentence, and the risk for monsters was high with those kinds of deaths.

“You can bite during a fight,” Sparrowfoot clarified. “Just not too deeply.”

Amberpaw hummed.

“You two ready to go again?” Tornears asked.

They looked at each other before Flintpaw stood up and raised a paw close to his chest.

“Oh look, I uh--I hurt my paw.”

“Um...”

“Did you really?” Tornears asked, sounding unimpressed and unamused.

“Yes?”

Sparrowfoot sighed. “Let me see it.”

Flintpaw held out his paw before he suddenly hissed and pulled it towards him again. “Wait something really is wrong with it!”

Sparrowfoot coaxed him to hold out his paw again, which he gingerly did. The brown tabby carefully nosed around it until Flintpaw hissed when he touched against the underside of his paw.

“Looks like you cut it on one of the rocks,” he said.

Flintpaw looked at his pad. Amberpaw looked over his shoulder to see a long tear down his pad. It wasn’t bleeding but it looked painful. Amberpaw’s stomach did an uncomfortable flip seeing it.

“Alright, we can head back and get that looked at,” Tornears said. “Looks like one of your excuses worked this time.”

“Yeah…” Flintpaw was staring at his paw with flattened ears and a pained expression.

Amberpaw brushed beside him. “Want to lean on me?”

The tom blinked and looked at her, before he quietly agreed. Amberpaw smiled in amusement as the tom leaned against her as they started walking back. He kept his eyes on the ground, refusing to look at anyone.

Tornears and Sparrowfoot were speaking quietly to themselves, and Amberpaw didn’t miss Tornears giving her an amused expression before she went back to speaking with Sparrowfoot. Amberpaw didn’t care about what they were talking about and let her thoughts roam as they made their way back to camp.

\--

They ran into another patrol before they reached the ravine. Palestripe greeting the two mentors formally, who then returned the greeting. Logpaw waved her tail at Amberpaw, who waved back. Ruffledpelt and Hollypaw were behind the others, with Hollypaw speaking to her mom with an excitement in her voice Amberpaw didn’t often get to see. Ruffledpelt was listening to her with an expression that showed nothing but love and her utmost attention.

Amberpaw found herself staring at Hollypaw as well. The molly still amazed her with everything she did. How calm and collected she was, and how easily she could de-escalate fights. How well she could hunt and fight. She couldn't help but feel inspired by her.

Then there were moments like this, where Amberpaw saw something else break through her aloof persona. She wanted to see more moments of Hollypaw getting excited and showing relief and being amused. She’s only ever seen Hollypaw show these moments around Ruffledpelt, and she didn’t know if it was because she was more comfortable around her mom, or if there was some other reason she wanted to appear uncaring to everyone.

It wasn’t a bad thing, but Amberpaw couldn’t help but long for the other molly to show more emotion around her as well.

The two patrols started heading into camp. Flintpaw pulled away from Amberpaw, saying he could manage on his own now. She stayed back and watched as he hopped onto the ledge at the foot of the ravine, still favouring one paw.

Ruffledpelt climbed up next, and Amberpaw perked up before Hollypaw fully passed her. “Hey, Hollypaw?”

She stopped, one paw still raised, and turned to look at her with calm and unreadable green eyes. ‘She’s so cool!’

“I was wondering if… would you like to hang out with me, for a bit?” She felt anxious energy building in her chest and had to fight the urge to lash her tail to dispel some of that energy. ‘Be cool, be cool.’

Hollypaw lowered her paw before she turned to fully face Amberpaw. “Yeah sure.”

Amberpaw hopped on her paws. “Yay!” Hollypaw did nothing but watch the younger apprentice practically buzzing where she stood, and Amberpaw suddenly stopped, feeling self conscious. “Do you want to go somewhere? For a walk? Or hunting?”

Hollypaw hm’ed in nonchalant agreement. Amberpaw smiled at her. “Okay! There’s this really neat place I found the other day I could show you.” She turned and started making her way down the slope, stopping every few steps to make sure Hollypaw was following.

They made their way back out into the forest, with Amberpaw leading, fighting the urge to jump around, and Hollypaw following at a casual trot.

“--And yesterday Tornears tried catching the bluejay. I’m pretty sure it was the same one, because it had the same mean face. It ended up smacking her with its wing before flying off. Tornears was so angry.”

“I saw her glaring at a dead mouse last night. Is that why?”

“Probably, yeah.”

They slowed their pace a bit as Amberpaw tried thinking of another topic to talk about. It felt too awkward with no conversations going. What if Hollypaw got bored?

“What do you think of the other apprentices?”

She gave her an odd look. “You mean Fangpaw and Logpaw?”

Amberpaw shook her head. “No! The apprentices from PoppyClan. How they were antagonizing us a while ago.”

Hollypaw flicked her tail and looked straight ahead. “I don’t think much of them. Cootpaw and Shortpaw are okay, but Mosspaw’s blindly following everything his mentor tells him.”

Amberpaw nodded. “I really like how--” she cut herself off, wondering if that was weird to say.

Hollypaw watched her, patiently waiting for her to continue, and Amberpaw felt awed by her yet again.

“I like how you stopped everyone from fighting. You’re cool-headed and smart. You’re really amazing.” Amberpaw didn’t look at her as she said this, but Hollypaw didn’t respond and her silence was starting to make Amberpaw’s fur rise. She looked towards the other apprentice. They barely made eye contact before Hollypaw turned her head away so Amberpaw couldn’t see her face.

She waited, trying not to feel discouraged, before Hollypaw turned her head again, staring straight forward. But there was a small smile on her face. “Thank you,” she finally meowed.

Amberpaw was instantly filled with relief. She beamed. “No problem.”

\--

They made to to a small shaded area where a few tall and thin trees bent and swirled ahead. The ground was frozen over and in the center was a large boulder. It stood tall at the center of everything, making it look as if the trees purposefully stood guard around it.

Amberpaw padded into the clearing before jumping onto the rock. It burned her paws from how cold the stone was, but she ignored it and turned to face Hollypaw from on top of the rock. “I thought this place looked neat!”

Hollypaw eyed around the clearing before her green eyes met Amberpaw’s again.

“You seem easily impressed,” she said, raising her voice a bit to be heard over the distance.

“Nothing wrong with that,” Amberpaw responded easily.

Hollypaw shook her head, smiling softly. “No, you’re right. It’s charming actually.”

Amberpaw smiled and started shifting her weight, trying to give each paw time off the cold rock. “Thank you!”

“Why don’t you get down? That looks uncomfortable.”

Amberpaw nodded before sliding down to land next to the flufflier molly. “I think it’s too cold.” Her paws were still freezing, and she tried shaking them off to warm them up.

Hollypaw watched her fluffing up against the cold. “You’re making me cold just watching you.”

“Don’t watch me then.”

Hollypaw blinked and looked away as Amberpaw continued to try to warm herself up. Hollypaw’s ears perked as she spotted something moving over the ground ahead of them. She raised her head and scented the air, before her fur stood on end.

“Amberpaw, it’s a coyote.”

Amberpaw stopped and started up with wide eyes. The animal hadn’t spotted them, but it was nosing around in the shrubbery. It looked smaller than she expected.

“I think it’s a pup,” she meowed. Hollypaw nodded.

“Think we can take it? Or should we sneak away and find a patrol?” Hollypaw met her eyes again and the amber-eyed apprentice found her mind going blank, being slow to register the fact Hollypaw was confiding in her for their next move.

“We’ve had trouble finding them the last moon, so it might run off before we can find anyone.” Hollypaw nodded. “But the warriors think there are multiple coyotes, so we could be in more danger than we think.” Amberpaw flattened her ears trying to think of the best course of action. “Let’s scout the area to see if there are any more, then try to take the pup ourselves if there aren’t any others.”

Hollypaw nodded again. “That’s a good idea.” Warmth spread in Amberpaw’s chest, making her feel hyper and light-headed. “Let’s go.”

 

* * *

 


	25. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warnings: Violence, injury, descriptions of canine teeth

Amberpaw kept her head low to the ground, kept her tail still, and her eyes focused on the dog-like creature through the grass. She took a slow step forward, making sure to keep her ears turned towards the forest. The coyote was clawing at the entrance of a mouse den and occasionally whining, or growling as a second pup tried to stick its nose into the hole. As far as Amberpaw could see, there were two pups they needed to worry about, but she wasn’t risking attacking them in case there were more she couldn’t detect. The stench of coyote was all around her, making her lose focus for a second as she tried to clear her nose of the offending scents.

The shrubs hardly rustled as Hollypaw made her way back to Amberpaw’s side. She kept her voice low as she spoke. “There’s another one behind that rock. They look young, so the mother could be around here too.”

“Where have they been keeping a den?” Amberpaw wondered, keeping her voice as quiet as Hollypaw’s had been.

Hollypaw blinked and turned her head to watch the coyote pups. “They’re nearly as big as we are. We should find a patrol.”

Amberpaw nodded. “Good idea.” They started making their way around the pups who were still play-fighting over a mouse neither could reach. Amberpaw froze. The hairs along her spine rose as a dark growl sounded behind her. On pure instinct, she whirled around and let out the loudest hiss she could muster.

“Hollypaw, watch out!”

The mother coyote lunged at the fluffy black apprentice right as Amberpaw reared up to meet her. Hollypaw ducked with her ears back and tail stiff at her side, leaving Amberpaw to meet the coyote’s bared teeth mid air.

Amberpaw felt the wind from the mother’s snapping jaws a mere whisker length from her face. Fire suddenly roared in her chest and she swatted at the coyote’s eyes with unsheathed claws as its weight met hers.

The mother didn’t seem to care, only concerned about keeping the smaller predators away from her pups. Amberpaw lost her breath as the creature landed on her with her larger paws and longer snapping teeth. She could hardly think past “dear StarClan she’s on me, too close too close, too much, too much,” and continued to hiss and claws at her face. When her nose drew closer to her face she bit into it as hard as she could, easily breaking skin.

The coyote yelped but didn’t back off and continued to growl and snap at her, until a smaller black mass hit into her side, knocking her away from the younger apprentice. Not wasting any time, Hollypaw grabbed Amberpaw by the scruff and hoisted her to her paws.

“Here!” Amberpaw shook her head, trying to clear it and find a solid thought, and moved on auto pilot as Hollypaw hurried her up a tree. Amberpaw climbed onto branch and lashed her tail, feeling breathless and anxious as Hollypaw climbed up behind her. She was whisker lengths away from the mother coyote’s face as she lunged up at them in the tree, until she easily hauled herself up beside Amberpaw.

“What now?” Amberpaw forced out, trying to breathe and slow her racing heart. She’d hadn’t been an apprentice for that long, and the reality of trying to fight such a beast without much other experience was weighing in her chest like a rock.

“Maybe they’ll get bored,” Hollypaw suggested, settling onto the branch beside Amberpaw. During the chaos, they hadn’t noticed they’d gotten the attention of the three pups, who were now staring up at them in curiosity from beside their mother.

Amberpaw, indignantly, bit off a piece of the bark under her and dropped it on one of the pups head. It snorted and shook it off before scratching its ear.

Hollypaw suddenly moved, then disappeared from beside her. Amberpaw sat up, looking around for the other apprentice, and was relieved to see she had managed to jump onto the branch of a neighboring tree.

“What are you doing?” Amberpaw asked.

“Stay there!” Hollypaw responded. “I’m going to get help.” She eyed around the sparse trees around them, looking for more distance between her and the coyotes before climbing down, but none other were close enough.

Fur standing on end, and tail lashing, she instead jumped onto the rocky forest floor and took off into a hole under a large stone. Amberpaw spotted her ears from the other side of the rock, having made her way through underneath it, before she disappeared from view.

Amberpaw huffed and looked down at the coyotes. The mother had backed away several paces, but was still eyeing her with cautious and threatening eyes. The pups continued to play and try to jump at the cat, but they barely made it halfway to her branch.

“You’re sorry excuses for hunters,” Amberpaw said, not intending it to sound like she was taunting them. “And you--” she made eye contact with the mother. “I hope your nose stings.” She wrapped her tail around her side, ignoring the stinging in her face and chest.

\--

She didn’t have to wait long before she heard several pawsteps running over frost and stone and hardened earth. It wasn’t long after that when Chervillight jumped over a bush and landed on the mother coyote’s shoulders.

Tornears emerged right at Chervillight’s tail and latched herself onto the coyote’s foreleg, before the rest of the patrol followed: Hollypaw, Palestripe, Boulderclaw, Fangpaw, and Monarchwing.

Boulderclaw decided to help the deputy and Amberpaw’s mentor, while the others went after the pups. Palestripe attacked the one closest to Amberpaw, while Fangpaw went after one and Hollypaw and Monarchwing lunged at another. Feeling more confident with the extra paws, Amberpaw quickly made her way down the tree and jumped onto the nearest target, digging her claws into its side.

The pup yelped and reared back only for Palestripe to claw at its belly. Amberpaw kicked at the coyote with her back legs until someone yowled, bringing Amberpaw’s attention away from the canine. It suddenly dropped and rolled over her.

She hissed as her was pushed into the dirt by the animal. ‘Breathe and focus,’ she thought as she sucked in a breath and kicked herself away from the coyote pup. ‘Don’t forget what Tornears taught you.’

The pups were much less experienced than their mother, having no idea how to respond to the brigade of cats attacking them other than blindly snapping their jaws. Amberpaw found them much easier to fight, even when she would get distracted by the noise and movement around her.

She hissed and swatted at the pup’s nose again. It sniffed, reeling back to shake its head, before it turned and ran off into the forest.

“I’ll make sure it leaves our territory,” Palestripe said before chasing after it.

Amberpaw nodded and turned back towards the others. A loud yowl of pain pierced through her ears before being abruptly cut off. Everything seemed to slow to a standstill. The pup with a now scarred snout stood and ran off into the woods, leaving easily as there was no one to chase it.

The amber-eyed apprentice hardly even noticed when her Clanmates had finished driving the other two coyotes away. She felt her lungs tighten and her fur stand on end. Someone was speaking but she couldn't process any words. She could only stare down in a mind-numbing panic at the unmoving silver-torbie apprentice.


	26. Chapter 23

“Amberpaw!”

The black-furred apprentice blinked and focused on Tornears’ face.

“Tornears? What--”

“It’s alright,” the ginger molly meowed and gently licked her apprentice’s ear, giving the younger cat time to relax, before stepping aside to let her see.

Boulderclaw was lying down beside Fangpaw with his paws under his chest. The silver torbie apprentice leaned against him, heaving rather than breathing. Their eyes were closed and their jaw was open but tense as Boulderclaw purred comfortingly.

“They’re okay? But I though…”

“It’s shock,” Tornears said. “The coyote bit their neck pretty badly, but they should be fine after we get them to Snaketooth.”

Amberpaw swallowed and nodded. “Can--can we go back to camp now?”

Tornears kept her gaze steady, blinking slowly as she spoke. “Of course.” She turned to meet Chervillight’s eyes. “Your orders?”

The black and white cat looked more serious than Amberpaw had ever seen her. She wasn’t sure she liked it. “I’ll wait for Palestripe to come back.” The deputy said. “Hollypaw, can you help Boulderclaw carry Fangpaw back?”

Hollypaw nodded, appearing completely aloof once again, and padded towards the large grey tabby and his apprentice.

“Let’s go,” Tornears said, resting her tail tip on Amberpaw’s shoulders before she started heading towards camp. Amberpaw followed, and narrowed her eyes when she spotted movement in the woods. Expecting to see Palestripe, she was surprised to instead see a grey and cream calico. The cat watched the group with unreadable eyes, before they ducked behind a boulder and disappeared. Amberpaw flattened her ears.

“There’s a strange cat over there,” she meowed, keeping her voice low but loud enough for the group to hear.

Chervillight stood and faced the direction Amberpaw was looking. Her tail was stiff and Amberpaw could see tension in her muscles. “Was it the rogue?” She asked, voice even but furious. “The ragged white tom that attacked Herbstar?”

“No, it was a pale calico,” Amberpaw said.

Chervillight nodded and lowered her head before padding towards the place the strange cat had disappeared to.

“Wait, Chervillight--” Monarchwing started to say, before the deputy raised her tail, silencing her.

She bounded over the rock, keeping her belly low and ears forward. Monarchwing shifted on her paws uneasily before she cursed under her breath. “Chervillight I need to te--”

“Come on Monarchwing,” Tornears interrupted the younger warrior. “She can take care of herself, come back to camp with us.”

The strange red tabby looked between Tornears and where Chervillight had then disappeared, and back and forth again, seemingly trying to think of a response against the older cat’s order, but in the end she sighed and dipped her head, giving up to follow Tornears and Amberpaw back to camp.

\--

When they made it to the foot of the ravine it was Herbstar sitting to greet them.

“What are you doing up?” Tornears asked. “You should be resting.”

“I’m fine,” the grey molly answered steadily, hardly lifting her head to look at them. “Where are the rest of you?”

“They’ll be here shortly,” Tornears said. “Why not let me keep watch?”

Herbstar huffed and rested her chin on her paws. “I’m fine.” She finally looked the three cats over and made a weird face. “You three look terrible. Go see Snaketooth.”

Tornears sighed, exasperated and amused at the same time, and gestured for the two other cats to follow her before making her way into camp. Amberpaw dipped her head at Herbstar as she passed and the leader calmly blinked in response.

Several cats perked up when Tornears entered camp, followed by Amberpaw and Monarchwing. Addertail was the first to run towards them.

“Amberpaw! Are you alright?” She started sniffing the apprentice who backed away, not wanting to be touched.

“I’m fine--”

“Your face is all scratched up. That simply won’t do. Wait here.” She started trotting away towards Snaketooth’s den, and emerged a moment later with the disgruntled old tom. Amberpaw saw Ramsonpaw peek out from behind his mentor and smiled at him, but the black and white tom only flattened his ears and looked at the ground. Amberpaw felt a rock hit her stomach, and it ached worse than her scratches.

\--

Amberpaw sat on a rock ledge sticking out from the side of the ravine wall, watching the rest of her Clan move about. Boulderclaw and Hollypaw had made it back with Fangpaw, who was looking much better than the last time she saw them. They still had a nasty wound on their neck though and had been ushered into the medicine den for Snaketooth to look after them. Chervillight and Palestripe had made it back not long after that and they both looked fine as well. Chervillight, Boulderclaw, and Tornears started speaking with Herbstar and Amberpaw angled her ears, trying to pick up on their conversation. She was curious as to what they could be discussing. Probably the news that the coyotes were gone, but there was also that rogue.

Amberpaw glanced at Monarchwing, who was lying down at the other end of camp with a thin vole between her paws. She looked sick, staring at the small rodent without really seeing it. Amberpaw wondered if she was feeling well.

There was a scratching sound beneath her before Ramsonpaw pulled himself onto the ledge beside her.

Amberpaw lifted her head and smiled at her brother, who lied down beside her without meeting her gaze. The black apprentice frowned and looked away, towards Herbstar and the others again.

They were both quiet for a long time. Amberpaw flicked her tail, not liking the awkwardness around them. She was about to break the silence herself when Ramsonpaw spoke.

“I’m sorry.”

They finally met each other’s gazes.

“About what?”

“Snapping at you the other night. And driving you away.” Her brother sighed before speaking again. “I was stressed and shouldn’t have done that.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Once again a silence had fallen over them. Amberpaw wasn’t entirely sure how to respond. She wasn’t holding any grudge against him, but she’d also be lying if she said she wasn’t bothered by how they’ve been around each other lately. She knew, Ramsonpaw must have harbored some negative feelings over the fact she’d made friends with the other apprentices.

And suddenly, she felt like a kit again. When they were being raised by Addertail, and even though they didn’t remember before, they were still different. They weren’t born in NightClan and they were told that from the start. Everyone made it clear without directly saying it--that they were accepted and trusted, but they didn’t have the same ties as everyone else. The cats around them were just Clanmates whereas the rest of the Clan saw each other as family. They were surrounded by cats, but it was still just them and the few who had made an impact in their early lives, like Addertail and Asterclaw.

Amberpaw felt the comforting grip of nostalgia as she blinked away the memories.

“Wh--hey!”

Amberpaw had leaned into the black and white apprentice, putting nearly her full weight onto him. He shifted, trying to lodge her off, but was unable to so with his shoulders being squeezed between her and the ledge under them.

“Oh shush. You worry too much.” Ramsonpaw glared up at her and she only smiled back, feeling smug. “We’re cool now. Just don’t start ignoring me like that again.”

Ramsonpaw sighed and stilled. “Okay, I won’t. Can you get off me now?”

“Maybe.” Amberpaw instead stretched her legs out and yawned. Ramsonpaw yelped indignantly and tried crawling out from under her.

“If you don’t stop we’re going to fall!”

“What?”

“I said we’re going to--”

The ledge cracked, causing both apprentices to tumble off onto the ravine floor. Amberpaw lost her breath as she landed on her shoulders, but wasn’t hurt and easily rolled over and stood. She shook her fur and grinned at Ramsonpaw who slowly flicked his tail and glared at her from where he had landed.

“Would you two stop that?” Palestripe snapped. “If you want to be loud and make a mess take it outside the ravine.”

“Sorry ma’am,” they both responded, and watched as she huffed and padded into the warriors den, before grinning at each other.

“How much of a mess could we even make?”

“Not much I think.”

“Well, you wouldn’t be able to. I could probably knock over a tree.”

“That’s impossible.”

“I could.”

“You would need at least five cats to do that.”

“There are at least five apprentices here! Let’s go try it!”


End file.
